Cloud Nine
by Lori2279
Summary: Our heroines decide to find their own paradise after things go south in Harmony Updated 513 and finished!
1. Prologue

"What are you going to do?" Paloma Lopez-Fitzgerald Santiago asked her sister as she watched her pack.  
  
"Get the hell out of Dodge."  
  
"Theresa, that's not a plan. That's a line from Gunsmoke." Paloma pointed out.  
  
"If you're not going to help me pack or comfort me, go downstairs and talk to la Llorona."  
  
"Theresa!" Paloma said, shocked.  
  
"With the way Mama is carrying on she deserves it." Theresa sounded sulky to her own ears.  
  
"She's worried."  
  
"She should be. If I stay here much longer I am going to kill every single person in this god awful house." Theresa said. "Starting with Gwen."  
  
"What happened when you told Ethan about the blood tests?" Paloma asked timidly.  
  
Theresa threw a perfume bottle at the suitcase; overshot and watched it hit the wall hard.  
  
"It went that well?" Paloma tried to kid.  
  
"He-" Theresa stopped talking when she heard the crash of glass in the hallway. "What the-" She and Poe went into the hall. "Kay? Miguel? What's going on?"  
  
"Never!" Kay stormed at Miguel. "Hell will freeze over before I agree to that!"  
  
"Kay, you aren't being reasona-" He stopped speaking when her hand flashed out and slapped his cheek.  
  
"I've done a lot of stupid things for you Miguel, but being reasonable was never one of them. And my dad will give up on my mom before I'll give you and Charity what you asked for."  
  
"Kay, baby, look at you. You're beautiful." Paloma said as she gave her a hug. "I can't believe it."  
  
Kay was trembling as Miguel's sisters pulled her inside the room, away from their fuming and confused sibling.  
  
"What did you do?" Theresa hissed at him before she shut the door.  
  
"Kay, are you okay?" Paloma asked.  
  
Kay nodded miserably, as she sniffled. She hadn't cried in the hall, but now it was too overwhelming.  
  
"Tissues?" Theresa held out the box to Kay.  
  
"Thanks Theresa." She said as she dabbed at her eyes. Then she looked around the room. "Are you going somewhere?"  
  
"She was just explaining that." Paloma offered, as they surveyed the wreckage of the room. Clothes littered every surface. Theresa apparently had bad aim when she was angry. Skirts and sweaters were balled up. A box of powder was on the carpet, and the perfume was pooling against the wall.  
  
"Little Ethan is your nephew Kay." Theresa started.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Yeah. I slept with Ethan before our wedding that wasn't and I got pregnant. Ethan Martin is Ethan's son not Julian's. And I'm pregnant again."  
  
To the surprise of both Theresa and Paloma, Kay burst into tears again.  
  
"OK, I didn't think having me as a potential in-law was that bad."  
  
"It isn't that." Kay grabbed another tissue.  
  
"Then what is it?" Paloma prompted.  
  
"You're gonna have a nephew or niece soon." Kay admitted.  
  
"Oh my God." Theresa breathed.  
  
"What did Miguel ask you?" Paloma's voice was tightly leashed fury.  
  
"To let Charity adopt the baby when it was born so that they could raise him or her."  
  
Paloma's hands fisted. "I'll be back in a minute."  
  
"Poe, don't do anything rash." Theresa said.  
  
"Knocking our brother into the middle of next week is not something I consider rash."  
  
"I don't want to be the cause of a family fight." Kay said  
  
"Oh sweetie." Poe softened. "You're not. I just can't believe that Miguel would ask you to do that."  
  
"It was probably my mother's idea." Kay said bitterly. "I haven't told Daddy yet but Charity told my mother."  
  
"You told Charity before you told anyone else?" Theresa's tone conveyed her opinion of that move.  
  
"No I told Miguel and he told Charity."  
  
"There are some things you just don't do to a woman. Threatening to take away her child to be raised by her chief rival is really high on the list."  
  
"You knew we were rivals?"  
  
"Honey, the only ones who didn't know you and Charity are rivals are Charity and your mother."  
  
Kay had to smile at that one. But then something occurred to her. "Theresa if little Ethan is Ethan's and you're gonna have another baby by him why are you leaving?"  
  
"Because your brother is married and Gwen is not raising my children for any amount of time."  
  
"But Theresa, he loves you. Why won't he just leave her?"  
  
"Because he didn't believe me." Theresa felt tears stinging her eyes. "He said I had lied once too often."  
  
"Son of a bitch."  
  
"Yes he is." Paloma agreed.  
  
"What about the test results?"  
  
"According to Ivy, who burst in the room seconds after I told him, those tests can be faked. Look at him and Julian and Sam!"  
  
"Oh Theresa, I'm sorry." Kay hugged the older girl. "My brother's an idiot."  
  
"Mine's a worse idiot." Theresa babbled.  
  
"Kay, would you like to meet your baby's other cousin?" Paloma asked.  
  
"What?" Kay looked blank for a second. "Oh my God."  
  
"C'mon, he's down the hall. I'll just check to make sure we don't have any loiterers in the hallway." Poe poked her head out. "All clear."  
  
"He'll ambush us." Kay predicted direly.  
  
"I'll kick him if he does."  
  
"He'll call for your mother and I really can't handle that." Kay said, as the three women entered the playroom.  
  
"Thank you for watching them Phyllis." Theresa said with a smile.  
  
"Of course. Anything else?"  
  
"My room. Could you pack what's salvageable?"  
  
"Mrs. Crane?" The au pair flinched.  
  
"Phyllis, don't worry."  
  
"Are you going somewhere? With Mr. Ethan maybe? Because he and Miss Gwen are packing to go to Seattle right now."  
  
"I'm not going anywhere with Mr. or Mrs. Winthrop."  
  
Phyllis bobbled. "Then, begging pardon, why and where are you going?"  
  
"It doesn't matter. I'm just going."  
  
Phyllis nodded. "Well, the babies are sleeping."  
  
"We won't wake them." Paloma promised.  
  
Phyllis left and the girls faced each other.  
  
"Cousins should know each other." Theresa said.  
  
"Where are you going?" Kay hedged.  
  
"L.A." Paloma said. "I bought a warehouse there. We're going to turn it into home."  
  
"You just got here."  
  
"And now I've got to get out. How did you last eighteen years?"  
  
"Drugs." She smiled. "Just kidding."  
  
Theresa looked thoughtful. "I think the seven of us would do just fine together."  
  
"You would really bring me?" Kay sounded so eager, but so nervous, that Theresa's heart broke for her.  
  
"Of course." Theresa said with a smile as she put her arm around Kay's shoulders.  
  
"What will we do for money?"  
  
"I wouldn't worry about that if I were you." Paloma advised.  
  
"A great deal of the Crane fortune is now in a bank account without a name only a number."  
  
"And I inherited a good chunk of my husband's assets. We'll get along just fine." Paloma promised.  
  
"We'll change our last names." Theresa said. "We'll be okay and we'll be together."  
  
"Lopez-Fitzgerald Santiago was a bit long anyway."  
  
"We'll figure something out. I have to go to the cottage. There's something of Antonio's that I want and I'd like to get it now before I forget. Kay, go home and get some things together. Be fast okay?"  
  
"You don't have to tell me twice."  
  
"We'll see you soon." Paloma said. "I'll pack for the boys."  
  
"Thanks Poe." Theresa and Kay left and parted to go in opposite directions.  
  
HR  
  
Theresa quietly entered the cottage and made her way to the bedroom. It appeared that no one was home.  
  
Unexpectedly, she heard the sound of breaking glass coming from the bathroom. What was it with this day and breaking things? She wondered.  
  
"Sheridan?" She said cautiously.  
  
"I'll be out in one sec." Sheridan called. "It was just a handheld mirror, but I don't want anyone to cut their feet on the pieces."  
  
"Okay. I just wanted to get something of Antonio's before you pack anything away."  
  
"What?" Sheridan's voice was ragged.  
  
"It's his St. Jude medallion. Our grandfather gave it to him. I thought it'd be nice to have something of his to give to Ethan one day."  
  
"I don't mind." Sheridan called.  
  
"Great." Theresa went to where Antonio kept his things and pulled out the box she knew held the medallion. She opened it and smiled. Her son would treasure this. She knew that. "Sheridan? Are you okay in there?"  
  
"Fine." Sheridan's voice wasn't completely convincing.  
  
"Can I get you something? Some water?"  
  
"You're not in a rush?"  
  
"I can spare a minute or two."  
  
"It would be nice to have someone to talk to."  
  
"Okay. Are you gonna come out?"  
  
"I'm still wearing my robe. I look awful."  
  
"You lost your husband, no one cares how you look."  
  
She heard Sheridan chuckle a little and then the blonde emerged from the bathroom. "Hi."  
  
Theresa had never seen the stylish Crane woman look so disheveled. "Here's the water." Theresa hurried to give it to her.  
  
"Thank you." Sheridan extended her hand and Theresa noticed how badly she was shaking.  
  
Theresa reached out both hands and wrapped Sheridan's hands around the glass. "Sip slowly."  
  
Sheridan obeyed. "I don't know why I'm this shaky."  
  
"Did you remember to eat today?"  
  
"I had some toast. My stomach is upset."  
  
"Oh." Theresa tilted her head and studied Sheridan consideringly. "Have you been sleeping?"  
  
"Sometimes. Nightmares, you know?"  
  
"I know." Theresa smiled softly. "C'mere. Sit down."  
  
Sheridan did. She finished the water.  
  
"What's wrong Sheridan?"  
  
She toyed with the hem of her nightgown. "I'm pregnant, and Antonio's gone, and Luis doesn't know if he should make moves on his pregnant widowed sister-in-law and I don't know how I feel about anyone or anything."  
  
"Oh sweetie." Theresa hugged her. "I'm so sorry." She said. "Antonio would've been thrilled if that makes you feel any better."  
  
"It should, but it doesn't, because he isn't here."  
  
"He's right here." Theresa touched her sister-in-law's stomach. "I bet he or she looks just like him."  
  
Sheridan felt herself getting choked up.  
  
"Shh. It's okay. You'll be okay." Theresa said. "I have an idea."  
  
Sheridan listened while Theresa spun out her plan.  
  
"You'd really want me to come?"  
  
"We're sisters. We should be together."  
  
"I hardly know you or Paloma or Kay."  
  
"So, we'll get to know each other. We'll take care of each other. We'll help each other."  
  
"It sounds wonderful." Sheridan agreed. "To hell with the rest of the world, it's the nine of us now."  
  
"Pack some things, okay? We're getting outta here."  
  
"Would you send someone over to help me pack? I want to shower first."  
  
"I'll do it. Don't want to alert anyone. Phyllis will keep my secret. She always does. Is there anything special that I should pack?"  
  
"My clothes. A few of Antonio's shirts... My jewelry."  
  
"Pictures? Your mom, your wedding photo, and the one of you and Ethan at his wedding to Gwen?"  
  
"All of those." Sheridan agreed.  
  
"Okay. Go on. Go take a shower. I'll pack."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"You're welcome."  
  
HR  
  
"This is unreal." Kay said, peering out the plane window.  
  
"Which part?"  
  
"Everything. Not only do we decide to leave, pack in one day, and get on a plane headed exactly where we want to go, no one showed up at the airport to stop us."  
  
"We got away with it." Paloma said. "Sheridan? Are you okay? Maybe you should've sat on the aisle."  
  
"Fine." Sheridan said.  
  
Theresa played with her cross as it hung around her neck. "Do you think Mama found the letter yet?"  
  
"She didn't stop the take off, so no."  
  
"A hotel tonight, right?" Theresa asked.  
  
"Yeah. We'll check out home tomorrow. Tonight we plan and talk."  
  
"I'm good at planning." Kay said. "And smirking, and lurking."  
  
"Why didn't my brother go for you?"  
  
"A blonde angel came into his life."  
  
"You mean someone without a mind of her own, so he could speak for two."  
  
"Exactly." Kay smirked. "Sheridan, do you want some more ginger ale?"  
  
"Please."  
  
"Here you go." She passed it down along with some crackers. "How are the boys?" She peered over Paloma's shoulder.  
  
"Miserable. Flying is really hard on a baby. It puts pressure on the inner ear."  
  
Kay smiled faintly. "Here." She handed some keys over. "Babies like to play with keys."  
  
"What is LA going to be like for us?"  
  
They looked to Sheridan. She hadn't said much the entire trip.  
  
"It's going to be different." Theresa said stroking the blonde's hair. "But we'll make it home. For us and for our children."  
  
"Visitors?"  
  
"Maybe Hank once we're settled but Mama would go straight to Ethan and Miguel."  
  
"Luis?" Sheridan finally asked.  
  
"One day, when you're ready. But I don't think you are now, are you?"  
  
Sheridan shook her head emphatically.  
  
"It'll be okay Sheridan." Paloma said. "Try and sleep."  
  
Sheridan shook her head again. "It's nice just being with people."  
  
"We'll be here when you wake up. Close your eyes. Don't be afraid."  
  
"Take your own advice Theresa, Kay. You should both sleep. Sleep every minute you can."  
  
Theresa nodded. "Will you be okay with both of them?"  
  
"Yeah." Paloma nodded.  
  
Theresa nodded and then looked to Sheridan, whose blue eyes were wide and slightly fearful. Theresa leaned Sheridan's head on her shoulder and rested her own on top of it.  
  
Kay snuggled into her seat and closed her eyes.  
  
The flight was quiet, as eight of nine passengers slept through it.  
  
HR  
  
"Food's here." Paloma called quietly.  
  
"Mmm." Theresa said drowsily. "What is it?" Theresa came out of the bedroom where the boys were pulling her hair back. Kay got up from the couch where she was reading and joined them.  
  
"Where's Sheridan?" Paloma asked.  
  
"Sleeping. Finally."  
  
"I'm worried about her. Do you think it was a good idea to bring her? She's not very stable."  
  
"Better to bring her than leave her there." Kay said decisively. "I mean, I know it's not quite the same but you can't imagine how it feels when you're ready to go insane because you can't stand seeing the same people doing and saying the same things every single day, and you have to get out, but you can't."  
  
"Besides, leaving her there with her brother and father would not have done anything to improve her mental state."  
  
"What about Luis?" Paloma asked.  
  
"I don't know. When Sheridan's ready she can make that decision."  
  
"But then what happens to Beth?"  
  
"I don't know. Maybe Luis will move on with Beth and maybe he'll spend the rest of his days looking for Sheridan in every stranger's face he sees."  
  
"Those are lousy choices Theresa." Paloma pointed out.  
  
"They'll sort it out, and we'll be here to pick up the pieces if they can't."  
  
"Agreed." Kay said. "Maybe we should wake her. She needs to eat."  
  
"She needs sleep more." Paloma disagreed. "Theresa, back me up. The day your son was born was the day you stopped sleeping peacefully. You can't ever reclaim the deep sleep."  
  
"We'll let her sleep for a while Kay. She can eat when she wakes up. This place has twenty-four hour room service. I made sure when we checked in."  
  
Kay nodded. "What are the boys doing?"  
  
"Waking up slowly."  
  
Paloma smiled. "Maybe I'll call Alejandro, Alex. Everyone always called his father Alejandro. It's such a mouthful."  
  
"What was your husband like?" Kay asked. "I mean, we're all making such a big deal about our problems, you've hardly had a chance to talk about yours."  
  
"Thank you, but I don't think I'm ready to talk about it or him. For now it's enough that I'm far away from everything."  
  
Theresa looked at her baby sister. She looked older then she should.  
  
"What?" Paloma asked.  
  
"Nothing. I'm just glad you're here."  
  
"Me too."  
  
"You know what I keep thinking?" Kay asked.  
  
Theresa shook her head.  
  
"Misery loves company." Kay announced. "If this had to happen to all of us, at least it happened all at once so we can be there for each other."  
  
Theresa smiled. "What do you think Kay? Boy or girl?"  
  
"You or me?"  
  
"Both."  
  
"I don't know. I think either would be good. What about you?"  
  
"I have a boy and I'd love another one, but I'd like a girl too."  
  
"Balance, right?"  
  
"Exactly." She laughed. "I wonder what Gwen will have."  
  
"Let's think about this. Considering who her mother is, she'll probably have Rosemary's baby." Paloma laughed.  
  
Theresa smiled. "Wouldn't it be a kick if she really did, now that we've said it so often?"  
  
"I've got an idea." Kay smiled.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Let's send Gwen a gift."  
  
"What kind of gift?" Theresa asked.  
  
"A rattle with the name Rosemary on it."  
  
Theresa grinned in delight. "And there should be leaves painted around it. Plant leaves."  
  
Paloma raised her eyebrow. "Oh?"  
  
"Ivy leaves." Kay caught on. "Poison ivy leaves."  
  
"That's investing a lot in petty revenge. It would probably have to be custom made."  
  
"Poe, who made Alex's rattle?"  
  
"Hank." She admitted.  
  
"Uncle Hank?" Kay screwed up her face in confusion.  
  
"Yeah. He's pretty good with things like that."  
  
"Think he'd do us a favor?"  
  
"It is a gift for his nephew or niece."  
  
"He'll be happy to do us a favor."  
  
"I have the laptop set up in my room." Theresa said. "I'll email him."  
  
"And then have him send, under just his name. Gwen would never accept a gift from me."  
  
"Or me."  
  
"She'd never accept a gift from anyone with the last name Lopez- Fitzgerald."  
  
"But with the Bennetts there is a chance."  
  
"Speaking of our last names, whatever they may be, I've been thinking. Grandma Lopez's maiden name was Soltini. What do you think of using that Poe?"  
  
Paloma nodded. "I think changing our names is a good idea."  
  
"Kay, what do you think?"  
  
"Well, I know Lopez-Fitzgerald would make it to easy to find us but how about using a hyphenated name?"  
  
"You wanna add Bennett to Soltini?" Theresa asked as she sat down on the couch and made herself comfy.  
  
"No but my great grandma's name was McKay. What about using McKay-Soltini?"  
  
"Is that where your nickname came from?"  
  
"Well it was either that or Katie and the only person who called me that, ever, was Grandma Bennett."  
  
"Katie is a cute name. No one ever expects someone called Katie to be serious."  
  
"Exactly why I'm Kay."  
  
Theresa smiled before she spoke. "Theresa McKay-Soltini. I kinda like that."  
  
"Let's make it Soltini-McKay." Kay suggested.  
  
"Theresa Soltini-McKay. Sounds good."  
  
"Paloma Soltini-McKay."  
  
"Kay Soltini-McKay."  
  
"Sheridan Soltini-McKay." A new voice joined them.  
  
"You're awake." Paloma jumped up and offered her sister-in-law the "comfy chair."  
  
"Yeah. It felt nice to sleep. But I'm a little hungry."  
  
"We didn't order any fish." Kay said.  
  
"Thank God." Paloma said. "Alejandro brought home flounder when I was six months pregnant. I threw up for an hour."  
  
Theresa sent her a look that said 'watch it, or you'll turn us all green at the gills.'  
  
"And then my mother-in-law came over baked the fish, and mixed some kind of remedy for morning sickness. I didn't have any more trouble with it for a week."  
  
Sheridan perked up at that. "Any around here?"  
  
"Sorry. I didn't ask for the recipe. But I could call and ask." Paloma said.  
  
"Maybe later." Sheridan said. "How do the little quiches taste?"  
  
"Pretty good." Theresa said.  
  
"You don't want those." Paloma advised. "Have a seat, I'll put something together for you."  
  
"Okay." Sheridan said, taking a seat. "Have we decided anything?"  
  
"Just names." Kay said. "McKay is from my side and Soltini is from yours."  
  
"Maybe I should just be a Soltini. I'm not a Bennett."  
  
"Mama always said the Bennetts' were family." Theresa said. "When you married Antonio that became true for you too."  
  
"I have this fierce headache." Kay said, in the quiet pause that followed. "So, hypothetically speaking, how are we going to explain how we're all related?'  
  
"Sisters with different mothers. Poe and I had the same mother. Sheridan, your mother was Papa's first wife. Kay, your mother was between the two times he married my and Poe's mother."  
  
Kay shrugged. "If it makes sense to you..."  
  
"And we were all widowed. Our husbands were in business together and they died in a plane crash. When that happened we took back our maiden names. Our parents are dead."  
  
"All of them?" Sheridan asked.  
  
"All." Theresa affirmed.  
  
Paloma put a plate in front of Sheridan.  
  
"What about Hank? You said you wanted to call him." Kay said.  
  
"I'll call him now." Theresa said. "Since you're up, can you grab my cell?"  
  
"Sure." Kay handed her the phone.  
  
HR  
  
Hank was just about to walk into the Crane house when his cell phone rang.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hi Hank. What's up?" Theresa said brightly, trying for normal.  
  
"Who is this?" He asked suspiciously.  
  
"Theresa." She said, in a hurt tone. "You didn't recognize my voice?"  
  
"Theresa! How are you? Wait a sec, where are you?"  
  
"Uh, you don't know?"  
  
"Know what?"  
  
"Where are you?"  
  
"Front door of Crane Central. Your mother called and asked me to come up."  
  
"Oh, I guess you don't know. We took off."  
  
"Who is we?" Hank asked. "Is your sister with you? My niece? Sheridan?"  
  
"Yes, yes, and yes."  
  
"I swear to God, you must be nuts. Put your sister on the phone right now."  
  
Theresa frowned. "Why?"  
  
"Just do it, please."  
  
Annoyed, Theresa held the phone out to Paloma. "He wants to talk to you."  
  
Paloma took the phone. "Hi Hank. What's up?" She parroted her sister.  
  
"Where are you-Wait don't tell me. No guarantees about these phone lines."  
  
"You're making me nervous." Kay and Sheridan looked at Theresa.  
  
"Sorry. I've had this damn job too long. Are you safe?"  
  
"Why wouldn't I be?"  
  
"How's the baby?"  
  
"He's fine. Hank, you're freaking me out. What is going on?" Paloma's sister and friends stirred uneasily.  
  
"Two men showed up at my apartment last night asking about your whereabouts, and Theresa's, and then Sheridan's. I said I didn't know, which is the truth."  
  
"Damn." She mumbled. "Maybe my way--"  
  
"Your way is ok, but I'd feel better if I could see all of you. Does anyone know exactly where you are?"  
  
"Mama knows the city."  
  
"No one knows more precisely."  
  
"Not unless they trace this call."  
  
"That's not too likely. I'll try to see you soon."  
  
"Wait, we called for a reason. We need a favor."  
  
Heavy silence on the other end. "What kind of favor?"  
  
"You know that gorgeous rattle you made for me when I was expecting?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Make one for Gwen. It should say Rosemary, and the girls want poison ivy leaves around it."  
  
"You four are very dangerous together."  
  
Paloma laughed on her end. "Yes, I know. Will you do it?"  
  
"I'll do it." Hank nodded on his end. "Hold on."  
  
Paloma could hear voices on the other end.  
  
Hank came back on. "Listen, we'll talk later okay?"  
  
"Put me in your pocket."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I wanna hear what's going on. Put the phone in your pocket but don't hang up."  
  
She practically heard his eyes roll. "You have unlimited minutes?"  
  
"Close enough."  
  
"Okay. I'll talk to you later."  
  
Paloma could hear the rustle of cloth as the phone slipped inside his pocket.  
  
"Hank, there you are." She recognized the voice as Chief Bennett's.  
  
"Hi Sam."  
  
"Do you know anything about where Kay is right now?"  
  
"I haven't seen her all day. Why? What's going on?"  
  
"She left home. We were hoping she'd gone to hide out at your place for a few days."  
  
"My sisters. Sheridan. Where are they?"  
  
Paloma flinched. Luis was loud.  
  
"What?" Theresa mouthed.  
  
"Luis." Poe whispered.  
  
"Where's Theresa?" Paloma furrowed her brow before she placed the voice. Ethan.  
  
"Why is everyone asking me?" That was Hank, cool and calm.  
  
"We're not." Grace's voice came through. "But I want to know where Kay is."  
  
"Why? So you can convince her that Charity would be a better parent?" Sam said.  
  
"So I can have a chance to hold her and kiss her and give her hope." Grace said firmly. "She must be frightened."  
  
Paloma could hear empathetic tears. "Now, now, what's important now is to find the girls." Mama said. "I have a letter, from Theresita, saying she was starting over."  
  
"Starting over where? Where is she Pilar? Where did she take Ethan?"  
  
"It didn't really say." Pilar said. "Mr. Ethan, shouldn't you be helping Mrs. Winthrop pack for Seattle?"  
  
"Pilar, don't do that. Don't act like you're just the maid. I'm the father of one of your grandsons."  
  
That caused a mild uproar. Paloma held the phone away from her ear and waited for the chaos to subside.  
  
"What the hell happened?" Kay asked. "Did somebody just set a bomb off?"  
  
"Something like that. It would seem that Ethan believes you now T."  
  
Sheridan lifted an eyebrow. "He may be thick headed, but he's not really stupid. Most of the time." She amended.  
  
"What's happening now?" Theresa asked.  
  
"Gwen just came in."  
  
"This is better than daytime TV." Sheridan said.  
  
"Sometimes I feel like I'm on daytime TV." Kay told her.  
  
"Ethan, what's going on here? I was just at Sheridan's cottage and most of her things are gone."  
  
"We're trying to find out where she took off to." Unmistakably Luis. His tone was strident.  
  
"Took off to? What are you talking about?"  
  
"Everybody be quiet." Sam trumpeted. "Let's organize the facts. Theresa, Paloma, Sheridan, and my little girl are gone. Pilar has a letter saying they are starting over. Two of them had kids, three of them are pregnant."  
  
"Three of them?" Gwen asked. "Which three?"  
  
"My daughter is pregnant." Sam said.  
  
"Sheridan is pregnant." Luis said.  
  
"And so is Theresa." Ethan admitted.  
  
"What?" Gwen shrieked at top volume.  
  
Paloma winced. So did Sheridan. That voice was clearly heard by everyone in the room.  
  
"I don't believe that they were kidnapped." Hank said thoughtfully.  
  
Another clamor. That thought hadn't occurred to anyone.  
  
"Where would they have gone?" Luis said. "Europe?"  
  
"You can't take two infants on an eighteen hour flight without tranquilizers the likes of which only Elvis's doctor prescribes." Grace said flatly.  
  
"Canada." Hank offered.  
  
"Hank, is that a guess, or fact?" Luis demanded.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Don't give me that. I know there's some secret between you and my sister. Are you in contact with her?"  
  
Paloma crossed her fingers.  
  
"I haven't seen her in the last two days. The last time I talked to her was at Antonio's funeral."  
  
"Did she say anything about any of this?"  
  
"Just that she wished she were like Sheridan--that she'd had a shoulder to lean on at her husband's funeral."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Would you excuse me? I need to use the bathroom." Hank said.  
  
"Sure."  
  
"You still there?" He asked moments later.  
  
"Yeah." She mumbled. "I never said that."  
  
"I had to say something."  
  
"You're a better liar than I remembered."  
  
"Yeah. Congratulate me. I just lied to my best friend's face."  
  
"Necessary evil."  
  
"Look, it might take a couple days before I can get out there. When I do, I'll call Theresa's phone."  
  
"You don't even know the city."  
  
"I'll get the letter from your mom. Either way, I'll find you. Soon."  
  
"Take care. I don't think those guys will be--oh, you know, but just in case."  
  
"Are you trying to tell me those guys who asked about you won't be violent?"  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"Theresa and Sheridan and Kay are right there, aren't they?"  
  
"Yes, sounds right."  
  
"You'll hear from me again. If you're in a hotel, don't stay there two nights in a row. Be careful about credit cards."  
  
"I know the drill. We have enough cash."  
  
"I figured. Julian ran past me in a fit when I was going to the bathroom."  
  
Paloma laughed. "Be careful. See you soon."  
  
"You too."  
  
"What was that?" Kay demanded. "Were you, you know, flirting with my uncle?"  
  
"What?" Paloma was startled into a nervous giggle.  
  
"Oh my God. Poe likes Hank." Kay teased.  
  
"I do not. We're friends. That's all."  
  
"Sure Poe." Theresa said. "So what did he say?"  
  
"The families are very concerned about us."  
  
"I'm sure." Kay said.  
  
"Your mom is worried about you, believe it or not."  
  
Kay laughed bitterly. "I'm sure St. Charity is too, right?"  
  
"I don't know. I didn't hear her or Miguel. I heard Luis though. He was very vocal. So was your dad."  
  
"What else is new?" Sheridan mumbled. "Should we worry about the doors being broken down?"  
  
"I think they're thinking Canada. I don't think they're thinking of destinations we'd use a plane for."  
  
"Who gave them that idea?" Theresa asked eagerly.  
  
"Hank, and Grace, in a roundabout way. Oh, and Julian is panicking about money."  
  
"It's not like I took the entire Crane fortune. And the money is being used for good things. Like my children."  
  
Sheridan actually grinned at that.  
  
"And Kay's education."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You always said you wanted to be a teacher when we were growing up. Do you still want to be?"  
  
"I don't know." Kay looked stumped for a second. "I haven't thought about what I want, beyond Miguel, in at least four years."  
  
"I think you'd be a good teacher." Paloma said.  
  
"Really?" Kay smiled  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"OK." Kay nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I want to do that. What about you, Theresa? You always wanted to be involved in fashion. Gonna do anything about it now?"  
  
"No. It's unstable and I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. I wanna help people."  
  
"Going to med school on us T?" Poe asked.  
  
"No, that's your show. I'm gonna be a paramedic."  
  
Paloma laughed. "I'm not going into medicine. I used to say that because it was what you and Mama wanted, and I wanted to be like you." She shrugged. "I don't have to do that anymore."  
  
Theresa looked both hurt and taken aback.  
  
"So what are you going to do?" Sheridan asked.  
  
"I don't know yet."  
  
"What about you Sheridan? What do you wanna do? Be the housewife and stay home with the kids?"  
  
"All five of them?" Sheridan laughed. "I don't think so."  
  
"Poe, how big is this warehouse of yours?" Kay asked.  
  
"Big. Why?"  
  
"Floors?"  
  
"Three. Kay, where are you going with this?"  
  
"The upper two floors should be more then enough room for a home right?"  
  
"I haven't examined it in person. I just walked through it with Alejandro while we were on our honeymoon."  
  
"You were in the States for your honeymoon and you didn't call?" Theresa demanded.  
  
Paloma's eyes closed, and a remote look covered her face. "We'll talk about it someday." She mumbled, as one of the boys started to cry.  
  
"That's Ethan, I'll go." Theresa said. She got up and went into the bedroom.  
  
"So, anyway, if it is big enough, maybe we can open a club/restaurant sort of thing." Kay said.  
  
"I would like that." Paloma said, suddenly looking excited. "I could be the hostess, and I bet I could do some of the cooking at first, or at least the menus."  
  
"Sheridan? What do you think? You could decorate and handle the bar. Being a Crane, I'm sure you know something about liquor." Kay said.  
  
Sheridan laughed. "We could all be hostesses." She suggested.  
  
"When we're not working." Kay said. "I think Theresa's got a point. We should all work on careers of our own."  
  
"I have an idea." Paloma said. "If I acquire another property, I'd like to open some kind of shelter or clinic."  
  
"Poe that's a great idea." Theresa said, coming back in. "Maybe we could call the club, Cloud Nine. But the clinic, I think we should name for someone who would have done something like that."  
  
"For Pilar?" Sheridan asked.  
  
"If we name if for someone we know, it's a given that they'll find us. How about the Jonas Salk Clinic?"  
  
"I like it." Kay said.  
  
"So do I." Paloma said.  
  
Sheridan nodded.  
  
"Good. Expect a donation from me."  
  
"T, how much money did you take?" Paloma asked.  
  
"Twenty million." Theresa admitted.  
  
Kay gasped.  
  
Sheridan nodded approval.  
  
"Wow. Sheridan? What about you?"  
  
"I emptied my trust funds. It came to about thirty million."  
  
"Holy crap." Kay mumbled.  
  
"Look, we better all get some sleep. Morning comes early and we need to figure out where we're going tomorrow."  
  
"Why are we going anywhere? Besides, we just woke up. It's morning, right?" Sheridan looked at the closed curtains. "I thought it was morning."  
  
"No, it's just after ten at night. Besides, I think it's a good idea to move around a little. At least for now."  
  
"Why?" Kay asked. "Is that something Uncle Hank said too?"  
  
"Yeah. In case they check flight numbers and put two and two together."  
  
"Do they care that much?" Sheridan asked.  
  
"We're their family, we're pregnant, and in laymen's terms, we did as what can be construed as running away from home. They care. Then there's Julian. I took his money."  
  
"Nice to know we're loved." Kay said dryly.  
  
"I don't know about the rest of y'all. But I'm tired." Paloma said. "T, be quiet when you come in."  
  
"Sure Poe."  
  
"I'm just going to sit up for a little while. After all, the three of us slept on the plane." Sheridan said.  
  
"Wanna play cards?" Kay asked, taking a sip of her soda.  
  
The door to Paloma and Theresa's room closed.  
  
"All right, what did Hank really say?" Kay demanded.  
  
"I don't know. I wasn't on the phone. I said hi, and he asked me to put Poe on the line."  
  
"She was spooked." Sheridan said.  
  
"I don't think she's telling us everything about her husband." Theresa said.  
  
"That's pretty obvious." Sheridan said, with a touch of her old spark.  
  
"She'll tell us when she's ready," Kay said. "Poker or gin?"  
  
"Gin." Theresa voted.  
  
"I'll deal." Sheridan said picking up the deck from the coffee table and sitting at the small dining table.  
  
HR  
  
"This place is amazing." Theresa said looking around. "It's huge."  
  
"It'll be adequate." Paloma said. "After we hire a cleaning crew to go through."  
  
"Do you know how to get a hold of blue prints?" Sheridan said, her mind starting to imagine what they could do with the place.  
  
"I could probably do that." Paloma said.  
  
"Hey, how about we set up our living room, kitchen, and dining room in the center and our bedrooms around it?" Kay suggested.  
  
"So that we each have our own space radiating from a common area."  
  
"Exactly. We can have smaller sitting rooms for when we want to be alone but when it's time for family we can be together." Kay said. "And this way none of the kids have to share a room."  
  
"This will work." Sheridan said eagerly.  
  
"As for the club, we have to check into permits and things soon."  
  
"Are the second and third floors identical to this one?"  
  
"Yeah as far as I remember. Also there's roof access."  
  
"I can't believe this place isn't being used." Kay marveled.  
  
"He just bought it for investment purposes. I don't know what he planned for it." Paloma said. "Anyway, how do you guys feel about an elevator? We could make it so that it's a locked entrance to the upper floors but I think there's space for parking under here."  
  
"And he put it in your name?" Theresa quizzed her sister.  
  
"Alejandro and I agreed that if the worst ever happened, and his family took control of his assets, I should have something left to support myself and any children who came along." Paloma said flatly. "I think it might've been used for storage, so let's go upstairs, shall we?"  
  
"Sure." Sheridan agreed. "Are those stairs stable?" She raised an eyebrow at them.  
  
"I'll go first." The youngest woman volunteered.  
  
"Poe, you sure?"  
  
"Yeah I'm the only one not pregnant."  
  
"I like the idea of an elevator." Theresa said suddenly.  
  
"Me too." Kay said.  
  
"Okay, we'll wait till we can get something more stable to go up in." Paloma said. "Let's go. The boys are sleepy."  
  
"They're precious." Kay said.  
  
"Yes they are." Theresa said. "Looking forward to your own?"  
  
"When I'm not scared of screwing up."  
  
"You'll have us. We'll do our best not to screw up as a group."  
  
A cell phone toodled cheerfully, as the girls emerged from the building to the sunny street,  
  
"Uh that's you T."  
  
"Oh. Hello?"  
  
"Theresa?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Where are you?"  
  
"Who is this?"  
  
"Ethan."  
  
Click. "Wrong number." Theresa said, as the phone went off again.  
  
"Who is it Theresa?"  
  
"Kay, why don't you answer it this time?"  
  
"Hello?" Kay said tentatively.  
  
"Hello? Who is this?"  
  
"Who is this?" She asked defensively.  
  
"Is Theresa there?"  
  
"Where?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Who is this?"  
  
"Where are you?"  
  
"Look, I don't know who this is but I don't have to tell you squat." Kay shut the phone off. "God he was rude."  
  
Theresa looked satisfied, until the phone went off again. Kay passed it to Sheridan.  
  
"Oh goodie." Sheridan said. "Hello?"  
  
"Sheridan?"  
  
"Ethan." Sheridan looked at Theresa who was mouthing 'No!' to her.  
  
"Where are you? Why did you all run off together?"  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about. I went on a vacation."  
  
"I just talked to Kay and Theresa on this same phone line. If you try to lie--"  
  
"Ethan, I can't hear you." Sheridan said loudly. "Ethan, are you still there?" She said before she hung up.  
  
"Just turn it off and ignore it." Paloma suggested.  
  
"Uh-uh." Sheridan said handing her the phone. "Your turn."  
  
Paloma turned it off. "I don't want to wake the baby." She said. "Let's grab some lunch?"  
  
"Good idea."  
  
"Let's go."  
  
HR  
  
Ethan dialed again.  
  
His wife came into the room behind him. "Ethan, what is going on?"  
  
"Nothing. Just can't get a hold of someone I need to talk to."  
  
"Seems to be happening a lot these days." Gwen said.  
  
"Yes. Has Luis heard from Sheridan?"  
  
"I meant me."  
  
"What?"  
  
"There seems to be a lot that you are forgetting to tell me lately."  
  
"Gwen, I don't want to fight."  
  
"So instead we'll just ignore any and every problem in our marriage?"  
  
"Look, Gwen, I don't have time for this. I need to go talk to Pilar."  
  
"You don't have time?" Gwen tried to control the hysteria in her voice and failed. "You fathered one of Theresa's children. You accepted a job from her. And now you don't have time?"  
  
"I fathered both of her children Gwen."  
  
Tears dripped down Gwen's face. "Then why did you do this to me?"  
  
"Do what?"  
  
"Marry me! Why would you do this?"  
  
"Mrs. Winthrop?"  
  
"What!" She screamed at the maid.  
  
"A package for you miss."  
  
"Put it there, please, and let us talk."  
  
"Gwen, I married you because it was the right thing to do."  
  
"So are you going to leave me now, to do the right thing by Theresa?"  
  
"I don't know. I just want to know where the hell she's taken my son!"  
  
"You know what, if you leave to go after her don't bother coming back."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I thought that after we got married I would have your attention. Your devotion. Your love. If you can't give me those things, I'm leaving. I'm giving up; I'm letting Theresa win. She can have you for all I care." Gwen grabbed her package and left a stunned Ethan behind.  
  
"Ethan? What was that about? What's wrong with Gwen?" Ivy wheeled herself in.  
  
"Mother, for once in my life can I have a private moment?"  
  
"What have you done to my daughter?" Rebecca demanded coming in. "She's hysterical."  
  
"Then go comfort her instead of interrogating me."  
  
"What the hell did you do to her you miserable bastard?" Rebecca screamed at him.  
  
"Nothing!" Ethan shouted. "I didn't do a damn thing!"  
  
"Liar!" Gwen's voice came from the staircase. "He's the father of Theresa's children. Both of them!"  
  
"Ethan!" Ivy said, appalled.  
  
"Not now Mother." Ethan said as his phone rang. "Hello?"  
  
"Ethan, my name is Paloma Lopez-Fitzgerald."  
  
"Thank God. I've heard you're a rational person, and they're in short supply." Ethan looked at his mother, mother-in-law, and heard his wife's tears.  
  
"I don't want you to bother my sister anymore."  
  
"I just want to know that my son is safe."  
  
"He's under my protection now. I suggest you content yourself with the Barbie doll."  
  
"Look, would you put her on the phone?"  
  
"She doesn't know about this call. I suggest it stay between us."  
  
"Wait-"  
  
"Goodbye Ethan. I won't call again."  
  
A dial tone.  
  
Ethan muttered a curse, and then dialed star 69.  
  
iThis call was out of area./i  
  
"Damn it." Ethan said.  
  
"Ethan? Tell me that you did not sleep with that gutter snipe again."  
  
"Mother, I am capable of violence." Ethan said. "So please, all of you, shut up."  
  
"Ethan?" Whitney timidly entered the living room. "Hi. Can I talk to you?"  
  
"What?" Ethan snapped.  
  
"I just wanted to give you something I found in Theresa's room when I went over there."  
  
Suddenly, Whitney had the undivided attention of every person in the room.  
  
"What is it?" Ethan moved and took the envelope from Whitney. The front of it said Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald in bold print. He opened it. It was a sonogram. There was a note attached to it. iEthan, if you're reading this, then I've headed for the hills. This is our baby. I promise to take care of him or her. All I ask is that you leave me alone. -Theresa/i  
  
Ethan gritted his teeth. "Thanks." He said. "I'm going for a walk."  
  
"I'm sorry Ethan. If I'd known what she was planning, I would've tried to stop her." Whitney said with a sad smile. "I'll see ya."  
  
"Thanks." He said again. 


	2. Chapter 1

CH 1. Three Years Later  
  
Theresa Soltini-McKay let herself into the huge apartment that she, her sister Paloma, and their sisters-in-law Sheridan and Kay resided in.  
  
"Hello?" She said quietly. It was almost midnight but she knew that someone would be up.  
  
"In the living room T." Kay called. "You're late."  
  
"Emergency downtown." She said coming in. "Hank!"  
  
"Hello Theresa." He stood, and hugged her.  
  
"When did you get here?" She whispered.  
  
"This afternoon. Do you play music in that club of yours?" He asked.  
  
"You say that every time. We keep telling you: soundproofing."  
  
He grinned. "Why break tradition? Your babies are beautiful."  
  
"Are they all asleep?"  
  
"Out like lights. Ethan was the last one. He was so excited to see his Uncle Hank." Sheridan said, handing Theresa a glass of wine.  
  
"Thanks." Theresa took the wine and took a seat. "How long are you here for Hank?"  
  
"Three days in LA, a quick run up the coast to Seattle, then one more day here, if all goes as planned."  
  
"Hit and run yet again," Kay grinned wryly. "Well if it does go to plan, you'll be here for the big anniversary party on Saturday."  
  
"Sounds good." Hank smiled. "How's school?"  
  
"So busy, but good."  
  
"And Theresa? How's the best looking medic in LA?"  
  
"Busy. A building came down on a bunch of squatters a little while ago, which is why I'm late. It was chaos."  
  
Hank winced. "You're a good person, T."  
  
"So they keep telling me."  
  
"He's right. You could be a medic for one of the hospitals or even out in the hills of Beverly. But you stick it out around here." Kay said, with a smile.  
  
"Enough about my good nature. How's everyone back in Harmony? How's my niece?"  
  
"She's cuter than a button, and can charm on a dime."  
  
"What?" Kay laughed.  
  
"She's got the trick of looking at you until you give her anything she asks for."  
  
"Sounds familiar." Kay said looking at Theresa with a grin.  
  
"Not even."  
  
"Please. You still have it."  
  
"But I only use it for a good cause." She said with dignity.  
  
"Like supplies for the clinic." Sheridan said.  
  
"Exactly." Theresa said.  
  
"So free ice cream for the kids is a good cause?" Kay teased.  
  
Hank smirked. "So, what about the fourth Soltini-McKay? How is she?"  
  
The three women looked at each other, trying to conceal knowing looks.  
  
"She's fine. She's busy, which is the way she likes it." Sheridan said. "How's Sam? Are he and Grace any better?"  
  
"They're a bit better. Rebuilding trust is difficult. Busy with what?"  
  
Kay tried not to giggle. Her uncle was too obvious when he tried to be subtle.  
  
"The club, the clinic, Alex. You know that stuff." Theresa answered.  
  
"You should ask her yourself." Sheridan finally lost her patience.  
  
"And on that note, how's Luis? Is his divorce from Beth final?"  
  
"Yeah, the ink's dry." Hank said. "She's grateful that he's allowing her partial custody of Chloe. I think a big part of her problem was that she thought marrying Luis would allow her to escape her mother. When it didn't, she saw all the problems in the relationship, and she stopped fighting. After going berserk."  
  
"Interesting take on events." Sheridan said sarcastically.  
  
"How's Miguel?" Kay asked quietly.  
  
"He's um..." Hank thought for a minute. "Well, he's ok, considering. Since Charity entered the convent he's been evaluating his life and hasn't liked what he's seen."  
  
Kay snorted. She wouldn't hide the fact that she was glad the Charity had left Miguel especially after he had asked her to give up her daughter before she was even born. "Is he in school?" She asked neutrally.  
  
"Yes, he is." Hank said. "He's attending the police academy, and doing his best to be a little Luis."  
  
"Mama must love that. How is she?" Theresa asked.  
  
"Worried about her girls."  
  
"You'd think she'd worry about her sons. Her daughters don't strap on bullet-proof vests on a daily basis."  
  
"Maybe Poe doesn't." Theresa amended Sheridan's statement.  
  
Kay winced. "Was it bad tonight?"  
  
"A building came down, but no one was shooting at us."  
  
"Today," Sheridan put in.  
  
"Hank? How are your nephew and great-niece?"  
  
"Noah or Ethan?" Hank asked.  
  
"Ethan. I didn't realize Noah and Whit had procreated yet."  
  
Hank smirked. "Ethan is doing fine. He gets a little stressed between the DA's office, Rosie, visiting poor Gwen and avoiding his mother."  
  
Sheridan sighed. "A busy life. Tell me all about my great niece."  
  
Theresa's face betrayed her opinion that there was no "poor Gwen."  
  
"She's sharp as a knife and pretty cute, if a little spoiled at times."  
  
"She sounds like Gwen and Rebecca only more evolved," Kay said dryly.  
  
"Well that'll be fun when she grows up." Theresa laughed.  
  
"Now tell me about my niece." He demanded.  
  
"Which one?" Sheridan said.  
  
"There's Emma," Theresa pointed out.  
  
"And there's Olivia."  
  
"I want to hear about everyone." Hank said.  
  
Content with the topic, the girls chattered for almost a half hour. Then Kay stopped. "Wait, I forgot to ask--how're Jess and Reese?"  
  
"You forgot about your sister?" Theresa pretended to scold.  
  
"She's so normal, how can I help it?" Kay teased.  
  
"We could all do with a little dose of normal." Sheridan laughed.  
  
"Reese went pre-med. They're broke but my spies tell me they've been visiting jewelers in town."  
  
"Oh God. Sam'll go postal. She's his baby." Theresa said with a laugh.  
  
"But Mom'll be happy. She always liked Reese." Kay said with a smile. She looked at her watch. "Oh God. I have class in five hours. I need some sleep."  
  
"Oh, I've kept you all up too late. I'll be here in the morning, go crash." Hank said.  
  
"Our sofa is yours, as always." Theresa told him.  
  
"I got the sheets already." Kay said. "Want me to make the bed?"  
  
"No, go sleep. I'll wait up for Poe."  
  
The three women hid grins.  
  
"Tell her we said good night." Theresa chose one of the hall entries and disappeared down it. Sheridan and Kay did the same with different doorways.  
  
Hank decided to go downstairs to the club. It could be hours before they closed up completely and he was still running on Eastern Time. He used the staff entrance, which let into the kitchen. A few of the staff nodded or waved at him. He wove his way through the dimly lit interior to Paloma's office.  
  
The office was empty and Hank took a seat on the couch along one of the walls. The office was tastefully decorated and family photos covered one whole wall.  
  
He knew that in the beginning she had planned to share an office with Theresa, but after about six months that had changed. The sisters did love each other, but they lived and worked together. Sharing an office was a little too much togetherness. Hank grinned as he noticed that a corner of the office held toys for Alex, and he imagined the other four children as well.  
  
The door eased open as he picked up a furry stuffed Elmo. "Hank."  
  
He turned and smiled. "Paloma."  
  
They embraced briefly. "Jose told me you were back here." She said. "I wish you'd give some notice." She laughed. "You're like a gypsy.  
  
"The gypsy and the one in self-imposed exile. Perfect." Hank laughed.  
  
"Have you visited upstairs?"  
  
"Yeah. They're going to bed."  
  
"No night owls in this bunch." Paloma agreed. "What was so urgent it couldn't wait till I came upstairs?"  
  
"Interpol indicted six members of the Santiago crime family at seven am this morning."  
  
"Oh my God." Her knees failed her. "Am I going to have to testify?"  
  
"No, you'll stay anonymous. Because of you we found other sources--none are quite as good, but they're all easier to protect."  
  
"Does Luis know?"  
  
"No. He doesn't have a clue."  
  
"Good." Paloma nodded. "How long are you here for?"  
  
"A few days then up to Seattle. I'll be back for the party on Saturday."  
  
"Why Seattle?"  
  
"Do you really want to know?"  
  
"I guess not." She hesitated. "Thank you."  
  
He hugged her. "It's okay if you cry."  
  
"They're not worth my tears." She sniffled. "Besides, I'm mostly relieved no one's going to swoop down and take Alex away."  
  
"Then we should celebrate."  
  
"Champagne?"  
  
"I would've said chocolate, but champagne sounds good."  
  
"I'll go wrestle a bottle away from Cole at the bar." She said. "Be right back."  
  
"I'll be here."  
  
#(#(#(#(#  
  
"When do you got to L.A.?" Whitney Russell asked Chad Harris as she finished making dinner for her and Noah while talking to Chad on the phone at the same time.  
  
"I should get in at eleven tomorrow. Then I'll run around to a few clubs, check out the gig situation."  
  
"Do you know what clubs you're going to?"  
  
"A few of the chains and one independent."  
  
"What's it called?"  
  
"Cloud Nine."  
  
Whitney laughed. "Cloud Nine? Tell me that's nothing like Club 54."  
  
"No. It's supposed to be really great for music acts. They supposedly have people performing in there all the time." Chad said.  
  
"Be careful, please." She implored him.  
  
He laughed. "You worry too much Whit."  
  
"I know. Be careful anyway. I'll see you when you get back. Have a good time."  
  
"I will. Bye."  
  
"I'll call again soon."  
  
"I know."  
  
They hung up the phones, and Whitney began tossing the salad in earnest. 


	3. Chapter 2

Ch 2  
  
Theresa twisted her hair up and clipped it. It was her night off and she was watching the club while Po worked on the books. She smoothed her dress out and walked out of her bedroom and down the hall. She smiled when she got to the living room; Ethan, Emma, Olivia, Alex, and Thomas were playing.  
  
Well, more precisely the boys were watching Sesame Street and the girls were wheedling for a tea party of some kind.  
  
The boys outnumbered the girls but the girls were more persuasive. They always had been. "Emma, baby, why don't you and Livvie go watch the Muppets in my room and let the boys play by themselves?"  
  
Emma, the ringleader, considered for a moment. "Dress up?"  
  
"Videotape." Olivia Samantha, Kay's little girl, said. "Right aunt T?"  
  
"It's getting late. You can play dress up tomorrow."  
  
Emma batted her big brown eyes at her mother. "Promise?"  
  
"Promise. Go on. Livvie, you can sleep in Emma's room tonight. I'll tell your mom."  
  
"Thank you." The girls raced to Theresa's door.  
  
"Where do they get the energy?" Sheridan asked, as Theresa came into the kitchen.  
  
"I don't know." Theresa said. "Are you coming downstairs tonight?"  
  
"Yeah. Kay's gonna stay up here and so is Poe, so I thought I'd join you."  
  
"Thanks." Theresa said. "What's for supper?"  
  
"Pizza. Kay just went to pay for it downstairs."  
  
"Why is it that you never cook?"  
  
"Theresa, do you or don't you remember that I burnt water?"  
  
"Just that once, but good point."  
  
"Dinner." Kay announced.  
  
"Great. Kay, I said that Livvie could bunk with Emma tonight, okay? They were bothering the boys so I sent them to my room to watch a movie."  
  
"Good plan. Did you lock up your makeup? They're going through a phase where they love playing with it."  
  
"It's on the top of my dresser." Theresa said. "Do you have a test tomorrow?"  
  
"Yeah. Psych. I have to brush up on my phobias tonight."  
  
"Fun."  
  
Kay grinned. "Should I corral the herd, or let the come when they smell the grub?"  
  
"We need to stop you from watching those westerns."  
  
"Sheridan, are you ready to head down?"  
  
Sheridan nodded as she finished her slice of pizza. "Yeah. Let's go. Night Kay. See you tomorrow."  
  
"Bright and early." Kay agreed. "Oh, have either of you seen Poe? She went to get the books out of her office forty-five minutes ago."  
  
"Maybe she snuck back up while we were in our rooms." Sheridan said.  
  
"Good idea." Kay agreed. "Have fun tonight."  
  
HR  
  
Paloma Lopez Fitzgerald smiled pleasantly at the musician on the other side of her desk. 'You have no idea who I am.' She realized, as Chad Harris described his vocal talents.  
  
Chad kept talking as she rose from her seat and went to the small counter where she kept a decanter of water. "Would you like something?" She asked, when he paused.  
  
"No thank you."  
  
"It's just water. I don't keep alcohol in here. My son and nieces and nephews spend time in here."  
  
Chad blinked. There was something familiar about this woman.  
  
Paloma mentally crossed her fingers that Chad had not noticed her picture wall.  
  
"No, I'm fine." Chad said again. "So do you think you could use me?"  
  
"On the stage you mean? I suppose we could. I'd have to discuss it with my partners."  
  
"Is every decision here a joint decision?" Chad marveled.  
  
"No." She smiled. "But we take performances seriously. Once you play our stage, we have an open door policy. You're allowed to come back whenever you're in town. But since I live here, I'm careful about who comes home with me."  
  
"You live here?"  
  
"Not in the office but I do live upstairs." Paloma admitted. "As does my son. So you can see where I'd want to be careful."  
  
"Of course." Chad nodded.  
  
"But, please feel free to enjoy the club tonight. Tell Cole, the big guy at the bar, that I said your drinks were on the house. Here give him this."  
  
"Thank you Ms. Soltini."  
  
"Soltini-McKay." She said automatically.  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
"It's a two part last name."  
  
"Oh, sorry."  
  
"It's fine. Enjoy your night Mr. Harris."  
  
"I will."  
  
HR  
  
Theresa laughed at Sheridan's tale of the guy who'd come into the clinic that afternoon with his arm glued to his wife's leg.  
  
"Where do these people come from?" She laughed gently.  
  
"I don't know but to tell you the truth, I don't wanna dwell on it," Sheridan laughed. "So, how was your day off?"  
  
"Good so far. You forget, I'd still be at work right now."  
  
"You ever talk to anyone about switching shifts?"  
  
"I don't have the seniority to do that," Theresa sipped at her wine. She looked over Sheridan's shoulder to the bar and her mouth dropped open. "Oh my God."  
  
"What?" Sheridan turned around. "Oh my God."  
  
"What's that line from iCasablanca/i? Of all the gin joints in all the world-"  
  
"He walks into ours." Sheridan finished  
  
"What should we do?" Theresa turned, so that her back faced Chad.  
  
"Nothing. He hasn't seen us so we do nothing. Doing something right now would draw attention to us."  
  
"Inaction is not a good course of action." Theresa mumbled.  
  
"Remain calm," Sheridan advised. "Just stay cool."  
  
"I'm the epitome of cool."  
  
"You look like you're going to shoot steam out your ears."  
  
Theresa started laughing and it was contagious. Sheridan started to giggle too.  
  
HR  
  
"Thanks Man." Chad said to the bartender.  
  
"It's Cole. Anyone who gets free drinks can call me by my first name," Cloud Nine's burly bartender said in his gruff sandpapery voice.  
  
Chad nodded his appreciation. "The lady in charge--she a good boss?"  
  
"She's the best. All four of them are. Not many people out there would give a guy like me a job with my employment record."  
  
"Your employment record?" Chad rose an eyebrow.  
  
"I was a collection agent."  
  
"For who?"  
  
"Vinnie DiFazzio."  
  
"The guy who went down last year for racketeering?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Four ladies keeping up a place like this--that's something." And Chad meant it.  
  
Because Cole heard sincerity in the tone, he nodded. "This isn't the only thing they do. They run a clinic and chase after those kids."  
  
"Sounds like you respect them."  
  
"Always," Cole nodded. "You met Paloma right?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Cole gestured to a table across the floor. "Two more of them are over there if you want to introduce yourself. The blonde and the brunette by the dance floor laughing."  
  
"Thanks a lot, man." Chad said.  
  
"No problem," Cole moved away to attend to a woman down the bar.  
  
Chad walked across the floor.  
  
"Excuse me? My name is Chad Harris. Are you two of the four woman who own this establishment?"  
  
"Yes we are," the brunette turned around. "Hi Chad. It's been a while."  
  
In retrospect, Chad gave himself credit for not dropping his drink. "Theresa?! Sheridan? Holy-"  
  
"Sit down, please," Sheridan gestured to the empty seat at the table.  
  
He did shakily.  
  
"You girls own this place?"  
  
"We built it ourselves." Theresa's face took on a stubborn aspect.  
  
"I can't believe it. I never expected to see you two again. I thought you'd be living somewhere in South America or Europe or something."  
  
"We started those rumors." Sheridan told him gently.  
  
"With some help." Theresa admitted.  
  
"Hank." Chad nodded.  
  
"How do you figure?"  
  
"He had a letter from Kay, postmarked Brazil, and a letter from your sister postmarked American embassy, Madrid."  
  
"Oh." Theresa said. "So how are you? You look good."  
  
"You look better." He shook his head. "You two are gorgeous."  
  
"I guess motherhood agrees with us."  
  
"That's right. I forgot about that. What did you two have?"  
  
"I had a girl. Emma Sheridan."  
  
"And Sheridan?"  
  
"A boy. Thomas Anthony."  
  
"What about Kay and your sister--wait, I met your sister--holy crap, that's why I thought she seemed so familiar. I didn't get to meet her when she came to town three years ago but there are pictures in your house..." Chad rambled rapidly.  
  
"Kay had a girl too. She named her Olivia Samantha. We call her Livvie. Paloma just has Alex. When did you meet her?"  
  
"A little while ago. I'm trying to get myself a gig out here."  
  
"That's why it took her forever to get the books." Sheridan realized.  
  
"Yeah probably. So, what do you guys do out here? Besides the club."  
  
"Kay's in school. She's gonna be a teacher. Poe runs this place. Sheridan runs our clinic and I'm a paramedic with the Fire Department out here."  
  
"Busy lives." Chad commented.  
  
"You don't know the half of it." Theresa and Sheridan chorused.  
  
"So how's Ethan Martin?"  
  
"He's good. He's grown a lot."  
  
"I'm sure he has." Chad said.  
  
"You're gonna bring up Ethan aren't you?" Theresa asked.  
  
"I don't have to, you just did."  
  
"You won't tell him, will you?"  
  
"I don't know. He's spent a lot of time over the last three years looking for you. All of you." He said with a look in Sheridan's direction. "So has Luis."  
  
Theresa twisted her hands. "We told them not to bother."  
  
"Why'd you let Hank in on the secret but not Whitney? The girl's been worried out of her mind."  
  
"Cause I know Whit. She would've have told you and you would have slipped and told someone. My mother, Ethan, Miguel, or maybe even Luis."  
  
"Theresa, you should've been the one to tell your mother and brothers."  
  
"I left a letter."  
  
"A letter's nothing." Chad said simply.  
  
"It was all I had left. I was so tired--" Theresa tried.  
  
Sheridan chimed in. "We were all so sick and tired and desperate."  
  
"Yeah well Luis was sick with worry after you all left. He still has people trying to find you."  
  
"Really?" Sheridan had paled a little.  
  
"Sheridan?" Theresa said.  
  
"I'm okay. I'm gonna get another drink." She went to the bar.  
  
"She okay?"  
  
"She gets a little upset when we bring Luis up sometimes." Theresa's expression said that she wasn't saying everything.  
  
"Hey."  
  
"She was pretty unstable for a while after we moved out here."  
  
"He married Beth at a low point you know? He was engaged to her, and then she was pregnant, and he saw no other alternative."  
  
"Chad, after Thomas was born, Sheridan was depressed. You know, post-partum and all that. But she wasn't her usual self even before that."  
  
"How bad was it?"  
  
"She was hospitalized for six months."  
  
"Did she really love Antonio?" Chad asked. "I know it's rude, and I know she married him, but I wonder, you know?'  
  
"Part of her did I think and I know she loved Luis. I think it was just everything. Antonio died before she could tell him about the baby, Luis married Beth, and no matter how much Kay, Po, and I were there for her she was still really lonely."  
  
"She looked happy before I came over." Guilt colored Chad's face and tone of voice.  
  
"It's not your fault. Don't feel bad. You didn't know." Theresa said.  
  
"Why didn't you call home?"  
  
"We thought about it. To be honest that was the first time I ever seriously considered calling Luis but in the end, no matter what Sheridan's condition was, contacting Luis was her call not mine."  
  
"So three years without your mother. Must've been rough, I know you two were fairly close."  
  
"We were yeah. But she was just driving me crazy before I left."  
  
"Even when someone drives you insane, when you're away from them, you spend a lot of time thinking about all the reasons you love them."  
  
"I bet she's spoiling Chloe." Theresa said softly.  
  
"She calls Chloe and Rosemary her girls." Chad said. "Since Gwen's hospitalization, Ethan's gotten a lot closer to your family. He and Luis worked together from the very beginning, but now he eats dinner with them three or four nights a week."  
  
"And Chloe and Rosemary? They get along well?"  
  
"Yeah." Chad said. "Both of them have great imaginations."  
  
"Good, I'm glad," Theresa checked her watch. "Hey, the kids should still be up. Wanna meet them?"  
  
"I'd love to."  
  
"C'mon." She signaled to Sheridan who joined them on the walk to the elevator. "You can see Kay again too."  
  
"Sounds fun."  
  
HR  
  
Whitney made a frustrated noise as Chad's voicemail picked up yet again. "Chad, it's Whit again. I need you to call me back ASAP."  
  
She hung up and looked around her.  
  
She was down by the wharf. It was late, but she'd run out of the apartment without even remembering her keys. She felt stupid, but knew Noah would still be awake. She didn't want to deal with him tonight.  
  
"Whitney?"  
  
She looked up. "Hi Ethan. What are you doing down here?"  
  
"My brother called me with a really lame story and asked me if you were at my house. You weren't, so I knew to look here."  
  
"Your brother was a pinhead." Whitney said plainly.  
  
"What'd he do?"  
  
"Decided to go out with his friends without even telling me he'd be late. I made dinner."  
  
"That's not the way he told it."  
  
"What did he say?" Whitney's temper flared.  
  
"That he was half an hour late because he had to stop at a store to pick up some wine for this evening."  
  
"Then why did he smell of cheap wine, cigarette smoke, and even cheaper women?"  
  
"I only talked to him on the phone." Ethan said. "And you're probably right that he's a pinhead."  
  
"So, where's Rosemary since you're out here consoling her Aunt Whit?"  
  
"I dropped her off at Jess and Reese's place."  
  
"You idiot."  
  
"What?"  
  
"It's Reese's birthday today."  
  
"I didn't know that!" Ethan said. "And when I called Jess said she didn't mind--oh shoot. Just come home with me tonight so I can save my daughter from the love birds."  
  
"Sure. Let's go," Whitney said smiling.  
  
"Are you sure the pinhead was lying?" Ethan asked. "Because I've seen how he looks at you."  
  
"I knew how the pinhead smelled."  
  
"Maybe the pinhead bought the wine at the new piano bar/liquor store."  
  
"You do not smell like that after spending ten minutes buying wine."  
  
"OK, we'll pick up Rosie, I'll drop you at my place and then I'll go kick my little brother's butt. Happy?"  
  
"Very." Whitney smiled and they left the docks. 


	4. Chapter 3

CH 3  
  
"So how was L.A.?" Whitney asked Chad.  
  
"It was good." He yawned. "What time is it?"  
  
"Uh here it is nine o'clock in the morning. So there it's about six."  
  
"Right, right." He said. "What happened? I got all five of your voicemails, but then your phone was turned off! I was going nuts."  
  
"I had a fight with Noah and then I stayed with Rosie while Ethan kicked some sense into his brother."  
  
"Was this fight about a certain question?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"You tell me." Chad said, suddenly cautious.  
  
"I made a special dinner, just the two of, cause it was our six-month anniversary for moving in together, and not only was he late, he came in smelling like smoke and cheap perfume."  
  
"That can't be good."  
  
"Gee, ya think?"  
  
"Hey I'm not the pinhead in this scenario." Chad defended himself.  
  
"Thank you." She said. "You agree that he's a pinhead?"  
  
"Yes." Chad said. "What did he say when you called him on it?"  
  
"That he'd stopped in at the Piano bar to buy the wine, ran into an old friend and had a drink with her."  
  
"It's plausible, considering."  
  
"Considering what?" Whitney snapped.  
  
"The question he was planning to pop."  
  
"What question?" Whitney's voice was low and dangerous.  
  
"He might've just had the drink to get his courage up, you know?"  
  
"Chad, what are you saying?"  
  
"He's an idiot, and a jerk, but he's your jerk and idiot. Or he wants to be."  
  
"Oh my God. You're kidding me." Whitney shrieked. "He wants to marry me?"  
  
"He emailed me a picture of a ring and asked if I thought you would like it. My best guess is-"  
  
"Oh my God. What is wrong with me?" Whitney cried. "I have to go find him and tell him I love him. Chad we'll talk later okay?"  
  
"Sure. Bye Whit."  
  
Immediately, Chad dialed Noah's number. "Come on, buddy, be there." He mumbled.  
  
Noah got the phone on the second ring. "Hello?"  
  
"It's Chad."  
  
"Chad?"  
  
"Listen, I told Whitney about the ring, and she's coming over, so you better have it ready."  
  
"You told her?"  
  
"She was ready to call in goons to break your knees."  
  
"Well, my knees thank you, and the rest of me thanks you for the warning."  
  
"Good luck."  
  
"Thanks. Hey how was L.A.?"  
  
"Interesting. I'll tell you about it later. See you."  
  
"Bye."  
  
Chad and Noah hung up and Chad started to walk down the street. He ran right into Ethan who had his daughter.  
  
"Ethan, man, what's up?" Chad asked cheerfully.  
  
"Hey buddy. How was your trip?"  
  
"Good." Chad smiled as he bent down so he was eye level with Rosemary. "Hey there Miss Rosie, how are you today?"  
  
"Good." The little girl grabbed her father's hand and pretended to be shy.  
  
Chad laughed. "So, what are you two up to today?"  
  
"Buying bagels from the bakery." Rosie chirped. "But I get a crumb bun."  
  
"Those are very good, aren't they?"  
  
"Yes." Rosie nodded her head. "And then Daddy is going to take me to the park so we can see Chloe."  
  
"A good day for you." Chad commented.  
  
Rosie smiled sunnily. "Do you wanna come with us? So Daddy has someone to talk to?"  
  
"What about Chloe's daddy?"  
  
"He has to work, so Chloe and I are going to spend the night!"  
  
"That sounds fun."  
  
Rosie nodded. "Chloe and me decided to be best friends."  
  
"Chloe and I." Ethan said automatically.  
  
"Sure, I'll come." Chad straightened back up. He looked down at Rosie for a moment more, comparing her to her sister and brother in L.A. Ethan Martin had his father's fair-haired looks and Emma was darker like her mother. Rosemary Ivy Winthrop looked like Gwen Hotchkiss Winthrop. But that was about as far as the similarities went, to the best of his knowledge.  
  
After spending some time with Ethan's son and daughter Chad had come to the conclusion that the best parts of both Theresa and Ethan had gone into their children.  
  
"She's beautiful." He told Ethan, sotto voice as Rosie stopped to look at a pet shop window on the way to the bakery.  
  
"Yeah she is." Ethan said with a smile. "So, what did you see in L.A.? Anything interesting?"  
  
"Just clubs."  
  
"Did you perform at all?"  
  
"No just talked to the men or women in charge."  
  
"How'd it go?"  
  
"Next time I'm out there, the door is open."  
  
"For all of them?"  
  
"Most of them. Cloud Nine is especially interested in me."  
  
"Cloud Nine--cute name."  
  
"The women in charge aren't bad to look at either."  
  
Ethan laughed. "From you, that's a real compliment."  
  
"I'm serious. These women are gorgeous. They're the kind that get better with age, you know what I mean?"  
  
Ethan gave him a strange look. "Old friends?"  
  
"Could say that."  
  
"People you knew once then?"  
  
"Exactly. I mean they're not only physically beautiful. They're the kind of beautiful that shines through from the inside. And your sister, she's really changed. Oh damn." Chad said, making it clear to Ethan that he had "inadvertently" slipped.  
  
"Jess?" Ethan blinked. "You mean Kay?" He demanded.  
  
"Um-uh-well, yeah."  
  
"You saw her? How is she? How's the baby? Who was with her? Is Sheridan all right? What about Theresa?"  
  
"She's fine. So's your niece." Chad said, ignoring the rest of the questions in favor of joining Rosie at the window of the pet shop.  
  
"Chad, you can't do this to me."  
  
"Not now." He nodded at the little blonde girl.  
  
Ethan sent his friend a dark look.  
  
"The park when she's busy with Chloe." Chad promised.  
  
Ethan nodded. "C'mon angel. We can't keep Chloe waiting."  
  
"Okay Daddy." Rosemary smiled.  
  
HR  
  
"Hey Theresa," Scott Jones, a firefighter, called to her when she arrived for work.  
  
"Hey Scott. Big fire?" She noticed the soot covered guys climbing the stairs.  
  
"Two alarm."  
  
"Anyone hurt?"  
  
"Greg got bumped on the head by some debris but that's it." He smiled. "Have a good shift."  
  
"Always."  
  
Theresa started walking toward the common area shared by the paramedics.  
  
"Hey Theresa." John Clarke, the head paramedic, called.  
  
"Hi."  
  
"You're early."  
  
"I promised Toni I'd stock the bus."  
  
"Isn't it her day off?"  
  
"She traded with Steve so he could go to his daughter's play."  
  
"So what are you doing here?" He teased.  
  
"I work here."  
  
"Shouldn't Toni be stocking the bus? It was Steve's turn."  
  
"I traded with her last time so it's my turn."  
  
"You're a good kid."  
  
"So they tell me. Tell Toni where I am when she comes in and tell her I need some coffee."  
  
The newest employee perked up. "I'll bring you some." He offered eagerly. "He" was fresh out of school and had developed a crush on Theresa, which she was trying to gently discourage.  
  
"That's okay. I'll want it later when we start our runs not now."  
  
"Oh." A disappointed look crossed the boy's face.  
  
"Thanks anyway." Theresa said going up to change.  
  
HR  
  
"Okay so?" Ethan said to Chad  
  
"They're all fine. Happy, healthy, and like I said, gorgeous. Five kids among them, and I'll be damned if there are cuter kids in the world."  
  
"What did they have?"  
  
"Like I said, Kay has a girl, Olivia Samantha, Sheridan had a boy, Thomas Anthony, and Theresa had a girl, Emma Sheridan."  
  
"Emma." Ethan whispered. "I have a daughter named Emma?"  
  
"And a niece named Olivia. They call her Livvie."  
  
"What about Sheridan's child? She's my aunt, so technically I have a cousin."  
  
"Thomas. They call him Thomas as far as I know. No nicknames yet."  
  
"Won't take them long. What about my son, Chad? What's he like? What's Emma like? Do you have pictures?"  
  
"Your boy looks like you. Emma's more like her mom. In looks and temper."  
  
"Oh God, another charmer on the loose? The world will never be safe for man or boy again."  
  
"She's a beauty Ethan. A real beauty."  
  
"There was another sister, wasn't there?"  
  
"Yeah. She's a cool customer that one. She has a son they call Alex. All nine of them share the house, the club, and the clinic. Kay goes to school to be a teacher, Theresa's with the fire department."  
  
"She's a fire fighter?"  
  
"She's a paramedic. I can tell you that it did her upper body good. She looks good."  
  
"Chad." Ethan barked.  
  
"Sorry," Chad apologized. "Anyway the club supports them pretty well and so does Theresa's job."  
  
"You mentioned a clinic."  
  
"Sheridan's primarily in charge of that, but they all work there. They started it to give something back, as Theresa tells it."  
  
"How is Sheridan?"  
  
"She's good. Her little boy looks a lot like Antonio and he has that Irish/Spanish temper Hank always says all the Lopez-Fitzgerald boys got."  
  
"HANK?" Ethan shouted. Rosie and Chloe turned back to look at him in confusion.  
  
"Where's Uncle Hank?" Chloe asked.  
  
"No where Chloe. You two just keep playing," Chad said quickly. "Calm down man. You're scaring your daughter."  
  
"Chad, you waltz in, tell me I have a daughter, that you have seen my son and his mother and my sister and my aunt and my niece and cousin, then expect me to be calm about it?" Ethan's voice grew louder and more strained on each end.  
  
"Yes," Chad hissed. "'Cause we're out in public and you really don't want this getting back to your dad, Miguel, or Luis before you tell them, do you?"  
  
"Fine. Good point. Watch the girls for me for today, I'm gonna go find them."  
  
Chad grabbed Ethan's arm as he started to stride away. "Man, what's the matter with you? You can't just drop this bomb on them."  
  
"You dropped it on me pretty damn fast."  
  
"I slipped. I wasn't supposed to drop anything on you."  
  
"Like hell. You purposely mentioned Kay."  
  
Chad didn't say anything. "Look, you need to calm down and think before you go looking for your dad or anyone else. You go off like this and you're just gonna mess up."  
  
"Fine. I just need some time to think--and to organize all the questions I have. Like where do they live and what are their allergies and why did Hank know before us and how did he keep this a secret from his best friend, his brother, and his nephew and what do my children's voices sound like and are they angels or do they have a touch of the devil and...my God, I don't even know my daughter's birthday."  
  
"December 14, 2003. She's a little of both but your son is definitely an angel. And according to both Kay and Theresa he has the Bennett charm you, your dad, Hank, and Noah possess."  
  
"December 14." Ethan repeated. He took a shuddering breath. "I'm going to go buy a bag of bread so the girls can feed the ducks. Ten minutes. Watch them for me, will you?"  
  
"Ten minutes. If you're not back by then, I'm coming after you."  
  
"Better make it fifteen then."  
  
"Ethan, I repeat, don't do something stupid."  
  
"I stopped doing stupid things when Rosie was born."  
  
"Uh-huh," Chad muttered.  
  
Ethan walked quickly to a store. Once he was there he picked up a pay phone and dialed directory assistance.  
  
"What city please?"  
  
"Los Angeles. The phone number for Cloud Nine," Ethan said.  
  
Ethan scribbled the number on the back of his hand, bought the bread and left the store. Better to call for reservations at the club after he talked Jess into making a plane reservation. Better to talk to Theresa when he was thinking coherently, instead of being torn between the image of kissing her senseless or strangling her for taking away his children.  
  
HR  
  
"Hey Poe," Sheridan greeted. "Fancy seeing you here."  
  
Paloma smiled as she closed the door to the clinic closed behind. It was flu shot day and the place was crowded. "Just wanted to see if your part of Saturday's guest list was done."  
  
"Yeah, I meant to fax it but I think I got a phone call from a school nurse and was distracted. Sorry, let's go to my office and see if we can find it somewhere on my desk."  
  
"Okay." Paloma followed her back. "How you find anything in here is beyond me."  
  
"It's one of life's great mysteries." Sheridan agreed. "So, how's Hank?"  
  
"You saw him, he's fine." Paloma said, flipping her hair unconsciously.  
  
"Don't play coy with me Po." Sheridan said. "What's going on with you two?"  
  
"Nothing." Paloma said. "We are on opposite sides of the country."  
  
"Every time he comes in a room, he looks for you first. When you're there he lights up, if you're not there he lights up when you come in. And you do the same thing."  
  
"I do not."  
  
Sheridan shot her a look. "Yeah, right."  
  
"I can talk to him about some things that I can't discuss with you or Kay or Theresa. We have a lot of business contacts. He remembers my husband, and still talks to a few mutual acquaintances I've lost touch with." Paloma sighed.  
  
"Poe, we haven't always been close but I did love Antonio and I do love Luis. I know what it's like to lose that. You can talk to me about that at least."  
  
"That's the thing." She shrugged. "You did love them. I respected Alejandro, but there just wasn't room for much else."  
  
"Then why--"  
  
"Did I marry him?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"It's a good question." Paloma said with a self-conscious chuckle. "And I don't have a really good answer."  
  
Sheridan frowned and scrunched up her nose before she shrugged her shoulders. "Here's my list. I hope it's not to long."  
  
"Should be okay," Paloma looked over it. "Theresa invited most of the firehouse."  
  
Sheridan laughed. "She wants to show off. What about Kay?"  
  
"Everyone in her study groups, and half of her professors."  
  
"What about you?"  
  
She shrugged. "Hank, the kids, Cole and Jose."  
  
"You need a wider circle of friends." Sheridan said.  
  
"Relax. It's just that everyone else had already been invited."  
  
"How about the press list? Did all of those RSVP?"  
  
"Yeah, the Times reporter is coming, so is the Globe, and the TV people promise to set up on the red carpet cause Theresa and Kay insisted on inviting the celebs that came on opening night two years ago to the party."  
  
"This thing is getting huge. How are you handling it?"  
  
"I couldn't be happier. You know me. I'm in my element when I'm dealing with crisis situations, smiling, and thanking people for coming."  
  
"So you're working the door?"  
  
"Yeah. Kay's gonna circulate the tables, you're still handling the music, and Theresa's gonna work the bar."  
  
"We're putting Theresa at the bar? Do you remember the last time she did that?"  
  
Paloma's forehead crinkled in a frown. "Yeah, she handled it."  
  
"She spilled a drink on the tabloid reporter who remarked on her resemblance to the vanished Crane heiress."  
  
"Why didn't I know about this?"  
  
"Jose's predecessor had set the shrimp on fire. You were dealing with that."  
  
"Would you rather do the bar and have Theresa handle music?"  
  
"Nah. I think we'll be okay. Who's on bouncer duty?"  
  
"Uh," Paloma opened the organizer in her hand. "Oh. Benny and Pete. They'll keep out anyone without an invitation."  
  
"Pulling out the big guns, aren't we?"  
  
"For this. Yes." Paloma said. "All right, I know you're busy, so I'll run along to pick up the kids from nursery school."  
  
"Alright. I'll hopefully make it home for dinner." Sheridan told her as they made their way back out to the front.  
  
"And Sheridan?" Paloma said hesitantly.  
  
"Yes?" Sheridan tilted her head.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Anytime."  
  
HR  
  
"What do you mean I can't have a reservation for Saturday?"  
  
"The club is booked on Saturday. It's a private party by invitation only," the man on the other end told him. "I can get you in on Friday or Sunday. Not Saturday."  
  
"Friday then." Ethan said. "What kind of private party?"  
  
"It's the anniversary of the club," she said. "How many in your party?"  
  
"Four. Put it under the name B- Bennings."  
  
"Done. You are aware of the cover charge?"  
  
"It's no problem. Thank you."  
  
"On Friday Mr. Bennings."  
  
"Right. Bye." Ethan hung the phone up and then picked it up again.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Grace, is Dad there?"  
  
"Hello, Ethan dear. How are you?" Usually Grace's maternal tone soothed Ethan, but tonight it irritated him.  
  
"Fine. Can I speak to Dad please?"  
  
"Ethan, is something wrong?"  
  
"No. Nothing. I just need to talk to Sam."  
  
"Of course. I'll get him."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Ethan?"  
  
"Dad, I have something I need to talk to you about. Can you get Luis and Miguel and meet me at my house?"  
  
"Is it about the girls?" Sam asked instantly. "Did your investigators find something?"  
  
"No. Not the investigators. Look, I'll tell you when you get here. Don't say anything to Grace or Pilar. They'll want to come and I don't think that'll be good for right now."  
  
"We'll be over in half an hour." Sam promised.  
  
"I'll be waiting."  
  
HR  
  
"Poe, is it really necessary to make each guest a party favor by hand? This isn't a birthday party for one of the kids." Kay complained as she twisted candy into a piece of white cloth and put a twist tie around the top.  
  
"No, it's a party for our baby," Paloma told her. "The club is our baby. We built it and we've nurtured it."  
  
"Why didn't we just buy something?" Sheridan asked.  
  
"It needs to have a personal touch." Paloma said patiently. "Come on, we're halfway done. Just a couple more hours."  
  
"Hours?" Kay groaned. "You're a sadist, you know that, right?"  
  
Paloma grinned. "I'm so happy we know each other well enough that you feel comfortable insulting me while working on a project together."  
  
"Sisters always insult. It's a way of showing love."  
  
"You and Jess showed as much love as you could without actually knocking each other's teeth out, right?" Theresa teased when she came in.  
  
"How're the kids?"  
  
"I got everyone settled down into bed." Theresa said. "They're really wound up."  
  
"They're excited." Sheridan said.  
  
"So's the firehouse. Just about everyone on my watch traded with guys on the first and second so they could come tomorrow."  
  
"This is going to be great." Kay said. "I just hope we have enough food. Most of my classmates are sort of starving."  
  
"Just remember to cut off your lieutenant Theresa. I don't want a repeat of Christmas Eve." Paloma warned.  
  
Sheridan snickered. "Oh come on, why not?"  
  
"Maybe she doesn't want to get hit on again," Kay teased. "Although it was funny watching him try and get her under the mistletoe."  
  
"It would've been funnier if Hank had been here." Theresa said, slyly gauging her sister's reaction.  
  
"Let's not go there," Paloma told her sister with a stern look.  
  
Theresa wrinkled her nose. "You guys want something to drink while you do the favors?"  
  
"You're not getting out of helping us that easily." Sheridan said firmly. "I'll go get the baby monitors, you take my chair."  
  
"They're three and four years old, why do we need monitors?" Kay asked.  
  
"Cause they're still little enough to be sick and need us in the middle of the night," Theresa said sitting down.  
  
"And we're allowed to be paranoid." Paloma said, with an adept twist of the wrist. "Bring down a radio too?"  
  
"Sure." Sheridan said over her shoulder.  
  
HR  
  
"Chad found them? How?"  
  
"He was visiting clubs in L.A. and he found the one they own."  
  
"They own a club?" Sam asked.  
  
"Cloud Nine," Ethan supplied.  
  
"Are they okay?" Miguel asked. "What did they all have?"  
  
"They're all fine. Healthy, happy and as he tells it gorgeous." Ethan paused. "Kay had a girl, Olivia Samantha. Sheridan had a boy, Thomas Anthony. Theresa's daughter's name is Emma Sheridan. And of course, there's Ethan Martin, and Paloma's son Alex."  
  
"Two more granddaughters." Sam said with a smile.  
  
"I have a daughter," Miguel whispered softly.  
  
"Luis, you okay?" Ethan asked.  
  
"Fine. What are they doing? Do they just have the club?"  
  
"No. Kay's in school. She's studying to be a teacher. Sheridan runs this clinic they set up. Paloma's mainly in charge of the club. And Theresa's a paramedic."  
  
"Have you talked to them?"  
  
"No. But I made reservations at the club and Jess is working on getting me a plane ticket."  
  
"I'll need one too," Sam said.  
  
"Me too," Luis added.  
  
"And me," Miguel finished.  
  
"Okay," Ethan nodded.  
  
"What else do you know?" Miguel looked hungry for details.  
  
"Not much. Just that they're okay. Happy, healthy, and together."  
  
"What about the kids?" Sam asked.  
  
"Same. They're okay. They go to a nursery school somewhere around where Theresa works. She works at a fire station."  
  
"Did Chad have any pictures? Descriptions?"  
  
"He said we'll know them when we see them." Ethan said. "Let's call Jess."  
  
HR  
  
"How's the club booked for tonight Sheridan?" Theresa asked as she helped Lenny, one of the other bartenders, stock the bar for the night. She had work in a few hours.  
  
"It's great. The radio spots about the anniversary party really helped us out--we're about twenty away from capacity."  
  
"Great. I can't believe it's been two years since this place opened." Theresa looked around the club. "Remember opening night? Boy were we nervous."  
  
"And then when the musicians were late and the cooks ran out of onion rings? I thought we were doomed."  
  
"Yeah but then Hank tricked me into getting up on stage and singing. You know I'm still mad at him for that." Theresa laughed.  
  
"He's been a good friend to us." Sheridan said. "All of us."  
  
"Yeah but I think he wants more then friendship from my baby sister."  
  
"I asked her about it." Sheridan admitted.  
  
"What did she say?"  
  
"That she can talk to him about things she can't talk to us about."  
  
Theresa frowned. "I know in the beginning, when we were all pregnant, she wanted to take care of us but I thought she'd be over that by now."  
  
"She mentioned that he knew her husband. I hadn't realized that, did you?"  
  
"I think I knew, but I'm not sure. And it's not just Hank who likes Poe, it's Poe who likes Hank and not just in a friend way."  
  
"So why don't they do something about it?"  
  
"Well I know Hank's reason. I think I do anyway. She's his best friend's baby sister. That means she's off limits."  
  
"That is so archaic."  
  
"I wonder about her reason though." Theresa mused. "Maybe they just need a little tap in the right direction?"  
  
"She wouldn't appreciate us interfering." Sheridan considered.  
  
"We're her family and besides according to Mrs. Silverstein, the kid's nursery school teacher, we're also yentas. We're supposed to interfere."  
  
"Good. The anniversary party is a good place to start, don't you think?"  
  
"Perfect." Theresa checked her watch. "Oh! I gotta go. I'll see you later, if you're up when I get home."  
  
"Have a good shift tonight." Sheridan called, as Theresa fairly flew out the door.  
  
"Thanks!"  
  
HR  
  
"We have reservations at eight." Ethan said to his traveling companions.  
  
"So we should catch a nap ahead of time." Sam said.  
  
"What's the closest hotel to Cloud Nine?" Miguel asked the cab driver.  
  
"Hotel Monte."  
  
"Did Jess take care of hotels too, or are we on our own?"  
  
"We're on our own for that," Ethan said. "Hotel Monte please?"  
  
The cab rocketed away from the curb.  
  
HR  
  
"Mommy?" Thomas said standing in front of Sheridan, who was sitting on the couch listening to the radio. 'Sand & Water' was playing.  
  
"Yes sweetie?" She scooped him up.  
  
"How come you've got tears?"  
  
"Oh because this song reminds me of you and your dad."  
  
"You always get sad about him."  
  
"Because I miss him. But this song, there's a line in it. 'His laughter fills my world and wears your smile.' That's what makes me sad because it's true. You have his smile."  
  
Uncomfortable, Thomas fidgeted a little.  
  
"Alright, I promise not to be sad anymore today. Okay? You wanna play Chutes & Ladders?"  
  
He shook his head. "Candy Land."  
  
"Okay. Why don't you get it and maybe see if Ethan or Alex wants to play too."  
  
"Aunt Paloma's making Alex take a bath now and Ethan and Emma are watching Muppet Babies. Livvie and Aunt Kay are taking a walk."  
  
"Guess it's just you and me then, huh?"  
  
Thomas nodded.  
  
"Okay. We'll play at the table and I'll get some cookies and apple juice for us, okay?"  
  
"Chocolate milk?"  
  
"Apple juice." Sheridan's tone was firm.  
  
"Okay," Thomas said smiling a little. "I love you Mommy."  
  
"I love you." Sheridan crushed him in a hug.  
  
"I'm squished," Thomas said. "Help!" he giggled.  
  
"You'll have to call louder than that." Sheridan teased.  
  
"Mommy ticklish," he said mischievously. Then he tickled her.  
  
She laughed. "Thomas is ticklish too." She whispered in his ear as she started tickling him in return.  
  
Mother and son played together for a little while, making Sheridan's heart lighter.  
  
HR  
  
"Hi Rick," Theresa said to one of their regulars. "You gotta stop sleeping it off in the park. The person who called thought you were dead."  
  
"Whew! Smell that breath." Toni Risotti said. "What do you think his B.A.L. is?"  
  
Theresa shook her head. "You in any pain Rick?"  
  
"I don't think he's feeling anything Theresa," Toni told her. "Rick, did you hit your head?"  
  
"Screw off!" the drunken man slurred at her.  
  
"Okay Rick, let's go. Puke before you get in the rig," Theresa told him.  
  
"Not gonna puke." He mumbled defiantly.  
  
"That's what you said the last time Officer Perez put you in his RMP. He's still trying to get the stain out."  
  
"Can't make me."  
  
"His head's not bleeding," Toni said. "We could just have him sign a R.M.A. sheet and leave it at that."  
  
"He's not in any condition to make that decision. He's bombed."  
  
"You always do the right thing?" Her partner asked expectantly.  
  
"I try." She looked around. "The clinic's open late tonight. Kay's manning the desk and that doctor from the hoity-toity hospital up in Beverly Hills is doing his shift. Let's take him there. Hey Nick?"  
  
Officer Nicholas Porter turned around. "Yeah?"  
  
"Watch the bus? We'll be right back."  
  
"Sure."  
  
"How many paramedics in this city are part owners of their own clinic?" Toni wondered.  
  
"Just me. I promise."  
  
"As if we needed proof of your sainthood. You keep doing this job when you could just chuck it all. Why don't you?"  
  
Theresa smiled, but didn't answer Toni. "C'mon Rick, one foot in front of the other. That's it."  
  
"Don't like you."  
  
"I know but I'm gonna help you anyway."  
  
"Stupid of you."  
  
"Maybe." Theresa agreed.  
  
"This guy's got more liquor in him then you've got in your bar," Toni said.  
  
Theresa laughed. "On a normal day, yes. With this party coming up? About equal. Hey Kay, you got a free room?"  
  
"Oh boy. Hi Rick. Did you have a nice bender?"  
  
He mumbled incoherently.  
  
"Yeah I think room three's open. Lemme check. Do you want Dr. Harrison to take a look at him?"  
  
"Whatever you think is best. I'll see you later."  
  
"Sure. Night. See you tomorrow, right Toni?"  
  
"Wouldn't miss it," the redhead promised.  
  
HR  
  
"Do you see them?"  
  
"No." Miguel sulked. "And we're getting weird looks from the bartender."  
  
"That guy looks like he could squash a bug just by looking at it." Sam said.  
  
"Chad said his name's Cole and he's 100% devoted to the girls."  
  
"Good to know, I guess." Luis said. "Still looks creepy. Chad mention anything about a prison record?"  
  
"Thanks to your sister's good efforts, he got out on bail."  
  
"Which sister?" Miguel asked suspiciously.  
  
"Paloma. Chad said she's passionate about giving second chances and keeping secrets. He couldn't even get Alex's full name out of her."  
  
"Good. I'm glad it wasn't Theresa. I'd hate to have to kill her for taking off pregnant with Ethan Martin and bailing out a convict," Ethan said.  
  
"There will be no killing until we have a complete and thorough explanation." Sam said sharply.  
  
"Fine, fine," Ethan agreed. He looked around the club. Then he did a double take. "Guys."  
  
"What?" All three of his companions looked at him.  
  
"Sheridan. Over there by the door."  
  
Luis was halfway out of his chair when Miguel and Sam each grabbed an arm.  
  
"Ethan, you're calmer. You go." Miguel told him. "Luis, you sit."  
  
Ethan crossed the room rapidly. "Sheridan." He called. She turned, and paled dramatically.  
  
"I'm hallucinating." She said. She grabbed the arm of a passing girl. "Excuse me, but do you see him?" she pointed at Ethan.  
  
"Yeah. He's cute. Who is he?"  
  
"My nephew. I think."  
  
"Oh," the girl with bright blonde hair said. "I'm Mack. What's your name?"  
  
"Sheridan. He's Ethan. Distract him for me?"  
  
"Sure." She said with a smile. "Ethan, was it? What do you do?"  
  
"Sheridan, don't move."  
  
Sheridan faded back, as Ethan pursued her across the club.  
  
Suddenly a brunette got in his way. She was very familiar.  
  
"Paloma?"  
  
"I called you once to tell you to stay away." Her voice was a cold whisper.  
  
"Well, you should have given your brothers the same message."  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"I'm here for my children, their mother, my sister, my niece, my aunt, and my cousin."  
  
"Sheridan's not your aunt, remember? You're not a Crane. You're a Bennett. Your mother and Chief Bennett did it and we got you."  
  
"Old habits die very hard deaths. Now let me see her."  
  
"Theresa's at work and the kids are sleeping and the only way you're getting into our apartment is if someone invites you in."  
  
"I'm not a vampire."  
  
"Yes but if you enter our apartment without permission, I get to call the police and have you arrested."  
  
"True."  
  
"So, go ahead, make my day."  
  
"Are you going to spend all night blocking me?"  
  
"Well, I don't have to block you tonight. Sheridan's gone upstairs and my sister and Kay won't be home till later. Night, Ethan."  
  
"That was a spectacular failure." Ethan muttered to the other men at his table. "Your sister didn't even have to yell to be heard over the music to make her message loud and clear."  
  
"It was Sheridan, though right?" Luis asked.  
  
"It was her."  
  
"Ethan, who's that?" Miguel asked.  
  
"Who?" Ethan asked looking over his shoulder. "Oh that's Mack. Sheridan asked her if I was real."  
  
"She's headed this way."  
  
"Think if I tell her I'm married but my wife's in a sanitarium, she'll go away?"  
  
"Thought you were divorced?"  
  
"It's still worth a shot."  
  
HR  
  
"Cole, I need a favor." Paloma slid behind the bar. "See those four over there? They're not wanted. I don't want to make a scene, but we need to put them on the list of 'do not admit,' okay?"  
  
"You got it Boss."  
  
"Cole, how many times do I have to tell you? Don't call me Boss."  
  
"Sorry Boss."  
  
"Oy. Okay, just get rid of them."  
  
"Anything for you."  
  
"You're a good guy, Cole. I'll handle the bar while you handle them."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
HR  
  
"Guys, we've got company."  
  
Sam watched warily as the giant approached their table.  
  
"You've worn out your welcome." Cole said gruffly.  
  
"We didn't do anything." Miguel tried to protest.  
  
"Shut up." Luis said, almost simultaneously.  
  
"Hey, who you telling to shut up?" Cole asked.  
  
"Him." Ethan said, pointing at Miguel. "We don't want any trouble."  
  
"Then, I suggest you leave. Now."  
  
"You know the ladies in charge, right? Of course. Would you give them this business card, and tell them I'll be in touch?" Ethan offered his card. Cole refused to take it. Ethan dropped it on the table. "Come on, we better go." He advised. The three cops stayed put, even as Ethan started to walk away from the table.  
  
"You know, we're members of law enforcement."  
  
"Good for you. You cops for the L.A.P.D.?"  
  
"Well, no," Sam admitted.  
  
"Should I call the L.A.P.D.?" Cole asked. "They like the girls down there at the 77th Street Station."  
  
Luis's eyes narrowed to slits. "I'm sure."  
  
"And I'm sure they like you right?"  
  
"My debt to society was paid off by my hours at the Jonas Salk Free Clinic."  
  
"Guys." Ethan tried tentatively. "We don't want to make a mess in the girl's club, especially since there's that big party here tomorrow."  
  
"And how do you know about that?" Cole turned on Ethan.  
  
"I tried to make reservations for tomorrow and I couldn't."  
  
"Hummph." Cole grouched.  
  
"We're going." Miguel said. "We're going. Just let Kay know that Miguel was looking for her, okay?"  
  
"You're Miguel?" Cole suddenly put real effort into looking threatening. "You're the no good lying weasel?"  
  
"Um..."  
  
"No, he's not. He said his name was Michael."  
  
Cole scowled and picked up the card Ethan had dropped on the table earlier.  
  
"Let's go Mike." Sam said. "You too Luis."  
  
"Luis? The one Miss Sheridan cried her eyes out over when he married a tramp with a bitchy mother?"  
  
"Would it be cowardly to run?" Ethan asked.  
  
"No." Sam said.  
  
The four of them ran for the exit like madmen.  
  
Cole stayed by the table with a smile on his face. "Good riddance."  
  
Cole rejoined Paloma behind the bar. "You're losing your touch." She teased. "Usually they gibber like fools within thirty seconds."  
  
"But they're gone anyway."  
  
"Thank you." She smiled at him. "I don't know what we would do without you."  
  
"Don't worry about it."  
  
"I'll see you tomorrow. Remember, you're a guest tomorrow. I don't want to see you serving anyone."  
  
"But-"  
  
"No buts. You're a friend. Friends have fun at parties."  
  
"If there's any trouble, I want to take care of it for you."  
  
"There won't be any trouble--unless you know something I don't?"  
  
"Not a thing." Cole smiled.  
  
"Good. I hope you bring that girl you've been telling Mary about."  
  
He shook his head. "Good lord woman, do you have spies everywhere?"  
  
"Always. Night." Paloma headed upstairs. 


	5. Chapter 4

CH 4-  
  
"Hey, how was your shift last night?" Paloma asked her sister as she stumbled into the kitchen.  
  
Theresa yawned. "We saw Rick again."  
  
"Really? How was he?"  
  
"Charming as ever."  
  
"What was his B.A.L.?"  
  
"I don't know but I'm sure there were breathalyzers going off all over the city. We took him to the clinic to sleep it off."  
  
"I'm sure he was really charming about that."  
  
"Kay had to deal with him for longer than I did."  
  
"Did he tell you that he didn't like you?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Well, he's off the guest list for tonight." Paloma joked.  
  
Theresa giggled. "Is Kay up yet? I didn't hear her come in last night."  
  
"She was pretty late." Paloma agreed. "I saw her when I was doing one last inventory for tonight."  
  
"You've done a lot of work for this, haven't you?"  
  
Paloma shrugged. "No more than I would've done for any party we have here."  
  
"Thanks though. I know we get caught up thinking how important our own projects are but you really pulled this together, so thanks."  
  
"No problem." Paloma smiled. "Look I was debating about whether or not to tell you this."  
  
"Uh-oh."  
  
"Yeah. Uh, our brothers, Kay's father, and your ex-fiancé were in the club last night."  
  
"You had to think about telling me?"  
  
"I didn't want to upset you." Paloma smiled hopefully, as the coffee maker hissed.  
  
"They'll try again."  
  
"Well at least for tonight we don't have to worry about them. They won't get in."  
  
"Famous last words."  
  
HR  
  
"Who are you calling?" Sam asked.  
  
"Hank." Ethan answered. "He's getting us into that party tonight if I have to blackmail him."  
  
"Hank has something to do with this?" Luis raged.  
  
"I don't know for sure, but I'm going to find out." Ethan said. "Hank? It's about time you answered. Where are you?"  
  
"It does mean something to me. Hank, I know about the girls. I know about Cloud Nine, the clinic, Theresa's job as a paramedic, Kay's plan to be a teacher. I know about my son and my daughter."  
  
"Yeah, I know all that. Now the question is, how long have you known and what are you gonna do to make it up to me?"  
  
"I know that's two questions, just answer me."  
  
Luis was glaring at Ethan and the phone. He looked as if he were seriously considering taking the phone from Ethan and confronting Hank.  
  
"Look, if you don't want to talk to me, maybe you'd like to talk to your brother or your best friend."  
  
"Why Miguel?"  
  
Miguel perked up considerably.  
  
"I seriously doubt that but okay." Ethan handed over the phone. "Here you go."  
  
"Hank? How long have you known?" Miguel tried.  
  
"What the hell do you mean since they left?" He shouted a minute later. "She what?"  
  
Ethan snapped his fingers and held out his hand. Defeated, Miguel dropped the phone into Ethan's waiting palm.  
  
"Hank? What did you just say?"  
  
"Theresa called and Paloma had you keep the line open so she could hear what was going on?"  
  
Luis balled his hands into fists.  
  
"Okay, here's the deal. You're going to get us into that party tomorrow night or I'm letting Luis kill you."  
  
"What do you mean Cole won't let him? Cole only likes the girls. Fine. You're hiding behind women? No, not whatever works."  
  
"Gimme that phone," Sam snapped.  
  
"Your brother wants to discuss things."  
  
"Hank? Listen to me: You will get us into that party, or I will tell Grace, Pilar, and anyone else I think might give a damn that you've been lying to them for the past four years."  
  
"What do you mean you don't have that power? Guest lists to these things are always open ended."  
  
"Invitation only? What are they afraid of? Yes I have to ask."  
  
"OK, you can't do the party? Open up the back entrance to us."  
  
"No, I am not letting this go. We want in on that party. I want to see my daughter and meet my grandchildren."  
  
"What do you mean? Of course they want to see me. Stop laughing. My reason is unimpaired."  
  
"No, I haven't told Grace. No, I don't plan to do it before I talk to Kay. Yes I promise."  
  
"I guess that will have to be good enough. We'll do what we can to keep you alive, but do what you can fast, or Luis might blow up."  
  
"Right. Bye." Sam hung up  
  
"What's with the bad cop characterization?" Luis complained.  
  
"You are ready to kill him. I didn't exaggerate there."  
  
"I just can't believe he would lie to us--to me."  
  
"He did it for them."  
  
"Maybe there was a reason." Miguel suggested. "Remember those men who came looking for Paloma right around the time they left?"  
  
"Whatever the reason, I'm still mad. Hank didn't have the right to take Kay out of my life for all these years," Sam said. "I would've sided with her against Grace."  
  
"There didn't have to be sides." Miguel said. "I don't think anyone actually wanted to take the baby away and give her to Charity. Kay was so out of control I was saying anything I could think of to get her attention."  
  
"Well you got it." Sam said.  
  
Ethan looked pained. "I did believe her. All along. But I was so mad--so mad that she had known from the beginning, so mad that she'd lied so many times that I snapped. I didn't mean it when I said I didn't trust her."  
  
"Guys?" Luis said from the table where the newspaper lay. "Did you see this?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"It's a photo spread of the women behind Cloud Nine."  
  
The guys clustered behind Luis, staring at the photos the way men in the desert stare at an oasis.  
  
"Theresa Soltini-McKay and her two children," Ethan read. "Ethan Martin and Emma Sheridan."  
  
"Let's get out to a newsstand and buy copies." Miguel suggested. "Before they close and it disappears."  
  
"You go ahead," Luis said. "I found this one, so I'm keeping it."  
  
"She's not my baby anymore." Sam whispered. "Look at her--she's grown up."  
  
"Olivia," Miguel said touching the picture lightly.  
  
"Where's Paloma?" Luis asked finally.  
  
"Says here that the fourth was unable to be photographed." Miguel said. "That's not like her. She loves being the center of attention."  
  
"Her son's not there either. But, god would you look at Thomas?"  
  
"Spitting image of Papa."  
  
"And Antonio," Sam said.  
  
"That's who I meant."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"He's a good looking kid." Luis admitted. "And look at his mother."  
  
"She looks just as pretty as she always did."  
  
Miguel met Ethan's eyes. Rationality couldn't be a good sign.  
  
"You guys okay?"  
  
"I think we need to go for a walk to the newsstand." Sam suggested.  
  
"Good idea," Miguel said. "Let's go."  
  
"Luis?" Ethan asked.  
  
"I think I'll stay here."  
  
"Okay," Sam nodded. "Boys?"  
  
"I'll stay here too." Ethan said. His intention was pretty clear: keep an eye on the wild card of the group.  
  
"Okay," Sam agreed. "We'll get you a copy of the paper."  
  
"Thanks," Ethan nodded.  
  
Sam and Miguel left Ethan and Luis alone.  
  
HR  
  
:THWACK!:  
  
Theresa grunted as she took her frustrations out on the punching bag.  
  
She was fuming. It had been a lousy day at work.  
  
"Theresa?" Hank was in the doorway. "Do you know what time it is?"  
  
"Three a.m. last time I checked."  
  
"Try again." He suggested, leaning against the doorframe.  
  
"Four?"  
  
"One more guess."  
  
"How long do I have before the sun rises?""  
  
"Really, I want you to guess."  
  
Theresa turned away from the bag. "Hank, go back to sleep. I plan to do that after I shower."  
  
"You wanna talk about it?"  
  
"No." She said sharply. "Well, maybe, but it's not like you'd understand."  
  
"I'm a pretty good listener. Ask your sister."  
  
"What do you two talk about anyway?" She tried to distract him.  
  
Hank smiled and sat down on the bench press. "It won't work. Evasion might have worked on my nephew and your brothers but it doesn't work on me."  
  
"Sometimes I wonder why do this, you know?"  
  
"You mean being a paramedic?"  
  
"Yeah. I don't need the money, the hours are lousy, and you see some of the worst things you can imagine. Things some people only ever read about in newspapers."  
  
"Did you see one of those things tonight?"  
  
"She was five years old and her father beat her mother to death and then shot himself," Theresa said. "She woke up this morning and she was a little girl. She's not one anymore."  
  
Hank took her hands. "No. She isn't."  
  
"Why do I do this again?"  
  
"Because of the baby you delivered in the middle of rush hour traffic last week, the little boy you talked to last month in the ambulance after he fell and broke his arm, and all the people who have made it because you got them to a hospital alive."  
  
Theresa sighed. "Some days it feels like they're such a small fraction."  
  
"So what are you gonna do tonight?"  
  
"I'm gonna have a good time with my friends and my family."  
  
"And tomorrow?"  
  
"I'm gonna go to work," Theresa said, smiling a little. "'Cause as bad is it gets, I love the job. The day that changes I'll be the one on the plane to Tahiti with Ethan and Emma."  
  
"Tahiti, hmm?" Hank grinned, knowing that the crisis was over.  
  
"Absolutely. But it doesn't matter where I am as long as they're with me. They're my home."  
  
He smiled. "Good girl. Go get a shower and some sleep, okay?"  
  
Theresa hugged him. "I kinda love you, you know?"  
  
"I know," he smiled.  
  
"So, for real, what do you talk to my sister about?"  
  
"Get out." He teased.  
  
"I'm going. Night Hank," she said over her shoulder.  
  
"Night Theresa."  
  
HR  
  
"Momma?" Alex touched his mother's shoulder. She bolted up in bed, as if he'd used a cattle prod.  
  
"What is it?" She gasped. "What's wrong?" She threw her legs over the side of the bed and was between her son and the door in seconds.  
  
"Nothing," he said innocently.  
  
She took a breath to steady herself. She hated panic. "What is it sweetheart?"  
  
"Hank said you'd want to see the newspaper. And Aunt Theresa said you'd want coffee."  
  
"Okay. Tell them both I am on my way, okay?"  
  
"I brought it to you." He said cheerfully. "Hank's helping us all with breakfast in bed."  
  
"Thanks sweetheart." She smiled weakly. "I'll help you get cereal, and then we can both come back and eat in here, ok?"  
  
"Okay."  
  
In the kitchen, he tugged on the edge of her t-shirt. "Momma? Why were you scared when I woke you up?"  
  
"Do you remember when there was that thunderstorm and you were a little scared, so you came in to sleep with me?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"It's like that. I had a bad dream."  
  
"Are you better now?"  
  
"I'll be about a thousand times better if my favorite guy gives me a hug."  
  
Alex smiled and gave his mom a big hug.  
  
"I love you baby," Paloma whispered.  
  
"I love you too Mama."  
  
"Don't jump on the bed this morning? I don't want to spill the cereal or the coffee."  
  
"I promise," he said.  
  
"Okay. Why don't you go and climb into my bed and I'll be there soon."  
  
"Okay." Alex went back to Paloma's room.  
  
"Hey," Paloma greeted her sister when she walked in. "You looked exhausted."  
  
"I didn't sleep too well last night." She admitted.  
  
"Me neither. Wanna talk about it?"  
  
"I already did. Hank's pretty good at nearly dawn."  
  
"Oh?" Paloma tried not to read into that statement, as she found Alex's favorite cereal and poured it into a bowl.  
  
"Yeah," Theresa smiled. "I remember now why I never had a crush on him. He was always too much like one of our brothers for that to happen."  
  
"You think?" She said. "I probably shouldn't start on the coffee yet, should I? I'll need it later."  
  
"Yeah and uh Hank wants to talk to you about the newspaper."  
  
"It'll keep for a half hour. Alex decided to surprise me with breakfast in bed." She smiled. "Seriously, some days I think about his father and I don't know how I got so lucky."  
  
"I think kids get all their parent's good parts."  
  
As always when the subject of Alex's father came up, she changed the subject. "How'd the photo spread turn out?" She asked.  
  
"Pretty good."  
  
"Not great?"  
  
"You're not in it. Poe, I don't get it. You put more into the club than the rest of us. Why don't you want to be part of the publicity?"  
  
"We need to get more whole milk." Paloma said. "Why don't we keep a grocery list on the fridge so we can add to it when we think of things we need?"  
  
"You're doing it again."  
  
"What?"  
  
"The evasion thing. No wonder it doesn't work on Hank."  
  
"Where are Ethan and Emma?"  
  
"Still sleeping. We don't all have early risers. Some of us have children who are night owls."  
  
"Must get that from you. I don't know what you're gonna do when they start real school."  
  
"Sometime we're going to talk about this."  
  
"Not today, though." Paloma said. "Go back to bed, Hank and I'll watch your kids."  
  
"They're not up yet."  
  
"Go back to sleep anyway."  
  
"I look that bad?"  
  
"You have good genes, you never look bad. You just don't look your best, which I know would break your heart."  
  
"Fine, good night."  
  
"Or morning." Paloma brought cereal and juice back to her bedroom. Caffeine was her vice. On a day like today, it wouldn't do to start too early in the morning.  
  
She smiled when she saw Alex fast asleep in her bed. She climbed in and joined him.  
  
HR  
  
Ethan was whistling as he dialed home. He wanted to check on Rosemary before the day got going.  
  
"Hello, Winthrop residence."  
  
"Mia, hi, it's Ethan. Can I talk to Rosemary?"  
  
"Sure! Rosie, it's your dad. He wants to say hi."  
  
"Hi Daddy."  
  
"Hi Princess."  
  
"When are you coming home?"  
  
"Two days."  
  
"Two?" He could hear the pout in her voice. He hadn't left her alone overnight since Gwen's hospitalization.  
  
"Yeah. I'm sorry but there's something I need to do before I come home."  
  
"When's Grandpa coming home?"  
  
It still gave Ethan a jolt to hear his daughter call Sam "Grandpa."  
  
"He'll be home with me soon, okay?"  
  
"Not before?"  
  
"Not earlier, not later." He promised. "How's Uncle Noah? Did you have fun at dinner with him last night?"  
  
"Yes," she said. "Aunt Whit said I could be a flower girl."  
  
"Did she really?" Ethan smiled. "I'm sure you'll be a very pretty flower girl."  
  
Rosemary giggled. "I saw Grandmother today."  
  
"Oh?" Ethan asked. "What did she say?"  
  
"That I should be at girl's school," Rosemary said quietly.  
  
"I don't want you to worry about that. If you're happy at home, you can stay home with me."  
  
"Thank you Daddy."  
  
"Rosie, which grandma said that?"  
  
"Rebecca."  
  
"Okay. I will see you soon okay? I love you."  
  
"Love you too." She said, more cheerfully.  
  
"Okay, bye sweetie."  
  
"Two days. Promise?"  
  
"I swear."  
  
"Good. Bye Daddy."  
  
HR  
  
"Theresa?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Can you give me a hand?" Sheridan said. "I wanna check the speakers. Sing for me?"  
  
"Oh no, you're not pulling that one again. Last time I did that you videotaped it and showed it on the screens. No way."  
  
"No video, I promise," Sheridan said.  
  
"This is against my better judgment but okay," Theresa consented.  
  
"Great," Sheridan smiled. She turned on the sound. "Hit it."  
  
"Hit what?"  
  
"Anything."  
  
Theresa laughed before she sang.  
  
I come on babe why don't we paint the town and all that jazz I'm gonna rouge my knees and roll my stockings down. and all that jazz. start the car, I know a whoopee spot, where the gin is cold but the piano is hot. It's just a noisy hall, where there's a nightly brawl And all that jazz./I  
  
Sheridan laughed. "That's your fantasy, isn't it? Working a gin joint where everyone's wondering just who you are."  
  
Theresa smiled. "How's it sound?"  
  
She twisted a few knobs. "Try it again."  
  
II pretended I'm glad you went away These four walls closin' more every day And I'm dying inside And nobody knows it but me/I  
  
"That good?"  
  
"Perfect!" A spark blew from the board. "Crap." Sheridan mumbled. "Maybe not."  
  
"One more song and I'll do the whole thing this time if you want."  
  
"Where's Kay? She usually sweet talks this thing into working."  
  
"I don't know. KAY!"  
  
"I am not fixing the damn sound board this time! Someone else has to figure it out." Kay's voice came from the kitchen.  
  
"But not tonight. PLEASE!" Sheridan called.  
  
They heard a few curses as Kay came out of the kitchen. "I want you to know that this is under duress."  
  
"Thank you." Sheridan said gratefully. "I spun the knob and it spit sparks and I don't want to touch it."  
  
"Oh so I get to be electrocuted? Thank you Sheridan."  
  
"I'll go help out in the kitchen."  
  
"Don't bother. Poe's turning into a Nazi about the appetizers. She was about to chase me out anyway."  
  
"Thanks for the warning." Theresa said.  
  
"Okay, Theresa, give us something."  
  
IMy eyes adored you Though I never laid on you My eyes adored you Like a million miles away from me You couldn't see how I adored you So close so close and yet so far  
  
Carried your books from school Playin' make believe you're married to me You were fifth grade I was sixth When we came to be Walkin' home ev'ry day Over Bonnicut bridge and bay Till we grew into the me and you Who went our separate ways  
  
My eyes adored you Though I never laid on you My eyes adored you Like a million miles away from me You couldn't see how I adored you So close so close and yet so far  
  
Headed for city lights Climbed the ladder up to fortune and fame I worked my fingers to the bone Made myself a name Funny I seem to find That no matter how the years unwind Still I reminisce 'bout the girl I miss And the love I left behind  
  
My eyes adored you Though I never laid on you My eyes adored you Like a million miles away from me You couldn't see how I adored you So close so close and yet so far/I  
  
Kay made a little face. With the sudden return of the men from the past to their current lives, the song was especially meaningful and a little bit disturbing. She couldn't help but wonder how their lives would change--or not change after this.  
  
"You sound great." She said honestly. "I think sound is set, but we'll still do a test with the band's instruments. They should be here in a half hour."  
  
"Okay," Theresa walked off the stage and over to the bar. "Who's tending bar tonight? Shirley or Mac?"  
  
"To be safe we got both. If things go right, we'll be busy enough."  
  
"Okay, great," Theresa reached over and picked up a clipboard. "This is the list of guests. Make sure Benny and Pete get it when they get here."  
  
"Is inviting Cole as a guest really the right thing to do?" Sheridan fidgeted. "I just don't trust anyone quite as much as I trust him. He's more loyal than even Benny and Pete. No one would get past him. No one." She repeated.  
  
"Well, if Benny and Pete want to keep their jobs, they won't let anyone who isn't on the list in," Paloma said, joining them from the kitchen. "Menu is being followed to a T. No pun intended."  
  
Theresa giggled. "Kay, what time is Trisha getting here?"  
  
"I told her to be here an hour before we start letting people in. That way she and the kids can stake out a table in the corner near Poe's office."  
  
"The kids are going upstairs at nine, no debate, no questions." Sheridan said firmly.  
  
"Already agreed upon," Theresa said, going behind the bar. She put out four glasses and a bottle of champagne. "Sheridan, why don't you do the honors of pouring?"  
  
Sheridan laughed, but took the bottle. "We have time?"  
  
"We're a little more organized than we were opening night." Kay said dryly.  
  
Paloma winced. "On that note I need a drink." She said.  
  
"From near disaster to triumph, God willing, right?" Theresa laughed.  
  
"Absolutely. Okay here goes," Sheridan said as the cork popped off and the champagne breathed and spilled out a little. "Glasses!"  
  
"Here," Kay giggled. "Theresa, take that one. Poe, for you. This one's mine. And Sheridan you've got yours?"  
  
"All set. What should we toast to?"  
  
"Success?" Theresa said.  
  
"The future?" Kay pondered.  
  
"I don't know," Poe admitted.  
  
"I know," Sheridan raised her glass. "To the need for drink and music."  
  
"Cheers," Theresa said.  
  
"Salute," Kay contributed.  
  
"Chin-chin," Poe said.  
  
"And to us," Sheridan said.  
  
The glasses clinked lightly. "To happiness for each of us, and our children."  
  
"Speaking of," Sheridan finished her drink. "We should go up and start getting them ready. That way we might have time to get ourselves ready."  
  
Paloma laughed. "That would really be a miracle. I'm just going to go over the stock of liquor one more time. Can't be too careful. I'll be up in ten minutes"  
  
"Okay," Theresa said. "I'll start getting Alex ready for you."  
  
"Thanks T."  
  
"Sure."  
  
Paloma ran her eyes over the labels of the bottles. She might have overstocked, but just for tonight she'd rather over do it than run out. It was a critical time for the club. With the spread in the paper, and the anniversary, they would be under close scrutiny. She wasn't about to mess up something they'd worked so hard on.  
  
She cleaned up the glasses and put the champagne back under the bar before she too headed up to change.  
  
HR  
  
"We're what?"  
  
"You're gonna be with the kitchen staff for the night," Hank said to his nephew.  
  
"You're coming through for us?"  
  
"Yeah and if you ever tell them it was me, I'll break something off that you may want later on in life."  
  
"How crowded is it going to be?"  
  
"It should be quite the scene. By the way, don't go near any corner tables with a redhead and five children sitting at it."  
  
"The kids will be there?" Ethan sounded almost hungry.  
  
"Ethan, if you make a move towards them you'll be removed from the premises. Theresa invited most of the firehouse and some of the local police station."  
  
"I'll be good. I have some self-control. I'm not sure I can vouch for Luis."  
  
The men looked at the door of the bedroom where Luis was sulking. He was refusing to talk to Hank for keeping the girls' secrets.  
  
"Good," Hank checked his watch. "Okay, I'm outta here. See you boys later."  
  
"Hey, what did they think of the newspaper?" Miguel asked.  
  
"They loved it. Bye," Hank left, and slammed the door behind him. Luis slouched in after his one time best friend had gone.  
  
"He's pissed at us, isn't he?"  
  
"Just a little." Miguel confirmed.  
  
"Well, at least we'll be there," Sam pointed out.  
  
Miguel nodded. "But what do we do once we're there? Do we have a plan?"  
  
"Get them alone on our own."  
  
"We're just supposed to waltz them from the middle of a crowded club to a secluded place quiet enough to talk, quite possibly against their wills, while security, half a firehouse, and an ex-con who is loyal only to the McKay-Soltinis watch?"  
  
"I didn't say it would be easy."  
  
"Ok, someone creates a distraction. Our girls are fairly hands-on, especially when managing this club, so they come over to check it out and we talk to them then?" Ethan improvised.  
  
"I like that better." Miguel agreed.  
  
"How do you suppose we keep them from throwing us out once they see who we are?" Sam asked.  
  
"Create the distraction in the kitchen? Then into the pantry? Would that work?"  
  
"Better."  
  
"But how to keep them from grabbing a sharp object? The kitchen's full of them." Sam pointed out. "And, as you said, these young ladies are a bit hands- on."  
  
"We follow them," Luis spoke. "We wait for them to go to a part of the club that's not populated and we pull them aside."  
  
"Like there's going to be any part of the club that isn't populated tonight. Did you see the list the paper printed of the expected celebs?"  
  
"Bathrooms, the hallways to the office and kitchen might be less crowded."  
  
"Forget bathrooms. Hallways around offices are better, but there is the issue of getting to them."  
  
"We're new. We get lost."  
  
"Wait, are we cooks or waiters?'  
  
"Waiters."  
  
"OK, then we have options." Sam agreed. "Hallway near the offices sounds best."  
  
"Okay then. Let's get going."  
  
"We should change into the uniforms before we get there."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Maybe we could even hide before they come downstairs."  
  
"That's a good idea."  
  
"Let's get ready."  
  
HR  
  
"Emma, honestly, this wouldn't hurt if you would hold still."  
  
Emma's little face screwed up in a look of rebellion that was kinda adorable. "Don't wanna."  
  
Her mother sighed. "You can't go to the party with half your head braided and the other half unbrushed." She coaxed.  
  
"Okay," Emma grudgingly agreed. "You look pretty."  
  
"Thank you. So do you."  
  
"Thank you," she said shyly. "And thank you for letting me go to the party tonight."  
  
"You're welcome." Theresa eyed Emma. "You know the rules though. Stay with your brother and cousins at the table."  
  
She nodded. "I will. I promise."  
  
"Thank you." Theresa hugged her tightly. "Now let's go show off how pretty we look, and hope your brother's tie hasn't strangled him."  
  
"It's a clip on." Emma looked confused.  
  
"Yes but he's like most men in our family. He hates all ties."  
  
"Alex doesn't hate ties as much as Ethan."  
  
"I know," Theresa said. "Let's get going. I bet we're the last ones to be ready."  
  
"I thought you said Aunt Sheridan always--"  
  
Theresa put a hand over her daughter's mouth. "Oh hush." She teased.  
  
Emma giggled and she and Theresa went out to join the others.  
  
HR  
  
It was about an hour into the party when Ethan saw his opportunity to get Theresa alone. She was heading for the back to take a breather. He followed her at a distance. When she stopped to adjust her dress he grabbed her from behind and dragged her into an office.  
  
"What the-" she spun around once he'd turned her loose. "You!"  
  
"You aren't very good at answering phone calls or emails." He said darkly.  
  
"How did you get in here?"  
  
"Does it matter?"  
  
"I'm gonna fire whoever let you past the front door, so yeah."  
  
"I didn't come in the front."  
  
She looked at his clothes. "Where'd you get that uniform?"  
  
"Costume shop."  
  
"Liar."  
  
"Interesting insult from you."  
  
"Bite me."  
  
"I'd rather discuss a very interesting photo spread."  
  
"You leave them alone. You don't come near them, you understand? You lost that right a long time ago."  
  
"You can't lose a right, Theresa. It can be denied to you, or seized, but not lost."  
  
She opened her mouth to protest, but before she said a word, he continued. "Do you know what you have done is called? Kidnapping, Theresa. You kidnapped our children."  
  
"I thought they weren't yours."  
  
Ethan flinched. He regretted a lot of things between himself and Theresa, but that was what kept him up at nights. He'd denied being their father.  
  
"No quick retort Ethan?"  
  
"We both screwed up Theresa." He said. "I'll be the first to say it. But I think momentary anger and denial pales next to leaving town without a forwarding address."  
  
"You wanted nothing to do with me or Ethan. You don't have any room to tell me what I did was wrong."  
  
"Christ, Theresa." He said. "When did you turn into my mother?"  
  
She slapped his face practically as the words left his mouth.  
  
He rubbed his cheek, and shook his head. "You, know that could be billed as assault. If I were like Julian or Alistair, I would use this and the kidnapping to prove that you're violent and unstable." Fury washed over Theresa. Ethan continued, "But I don't really believe that, and I don't want to do that. But I really don't want to look at Ethan twenty years down the road and know what it feels like to be in Sam's shoes. Would you do that to me? Leave me to face my grown son, and not know a thing about him? More importantly, would you do that to your son? And please don't forget our daughter. I have never seen her face, Theresa."  
  
"Ethan-" She was interrupted by a beeping sound. She quickly found the noisy object lifted it to see who was paging her. "Shoot." She picked up the phone and dialed. "Max? It's Theresa. What's up?"  
  
"Oh God. Yeah okay. I'll hitch a ride with someone. I assume you paged most of the people here."  
  
"No, no one's had more then a beer yet. It's too early. Okay. Bye." She hung up and looked at Ethan. "This is gonna have to wait till later. I have to go."  
  
"Go where?" He asked as she sailed out the door.  
  
"Work. A building just collapsed."  
  
"When you come back, we will continue this discussion." Ethan promised. "Be careful?"  
  
But she was gone.  
  
HR  
  
"Sheridan?" Theresa found her. "I gotta go."  
  
"I figured. I just saw most of the guys leave. What happened?"  
  
"A building that was set for demolition just came down. Max thinks one of the detonators went off by accident. There are some people inside," she pulled her jacket on.  
  
"Be careful," Sheridan hugged her.  
  
"I will. Tell Poe I'm sorry to do this."  
  
"She knows." Sheridan told her, as she quickly pressed a kiss to Theresa's cheek. "We all know. Do you want to leave your shoes here? You always complain that they're never the same if they stay in your locker overnight."  
  
"Yeah," she took them off. "I think you might wanna get someone to open up the clinic. If the casualties are what Max thinks they are the local ER's are gonna overflow and we're gonna need somewhere else to take them."  
  
"Your sister's gonna throw a fit that she can't help tonight." Sheridan acknowledged. "I'll be down there in about twenty minutes."  
  
"Alright and don't do it by yourself. Call Dr. Walters."  
  
"Don't have to. He's here tonight."  
  
"Poe is going to throw a fit. We're taking most of the party."  
  
"She'll understand. Go before you have to take the bus to the house."  
  
"Bye," Theresa said as she ran after some of the guys.  
  
"Bye," Sheridan said as she went the other way. "Kay? I have to go," she said when she found her.  
  
"Same reason most of the firehouse is leaving?"  
  
"'Fraid so."  
  
"Need an extra hand?"  
  
"Poe will kill us if we leave her to do everything."  
  
"She's gonna kill us anyway. Most of the party just left."  
  
"What is going on?" Paloma asked as she walked up.  
  
"Building came down."  
  
"Dammit. Go, both of you. I'll get Cole to help and then I'll leave him and Hank in charge and see you at the clinic."  
  
"Paloma, you put so much into this. One of the hostesses has to be here, it's our trademark." Kay protested  
  
"I think you guys will need me more."  
  
"If we get in over our heads, we'll call. Promise. Right now, we should go change," Sheridan said.  
  
"Good idea. Hey, take the kids up with you."  
  
"It's 9:30. They should already be up."  
  
She blushed. "They begged."  
  
"You're such a softy."  
  
"Yeah," Paloma nodded. "Go!"  
  
Kay and Sheridan disappeared just as Miguel appeared behind Paloma.  
  
"Hey little sister," he said quietly.  
  
Her eyes widened. "When did--what are--do they know?"  
  
"Theresa does I think. I'm not sure if Ethan got her alone but he looked less agitated last time I saw him."  
  
"You need to leave. Now."  
  
"What, along with the rest of the party?"  
  
"Work called." Paloma said. "Saving lives is a bit more important than a party, don't you think?"  
  
"Saving lives?"  
  
"A building came down. Our big sister is a paramedic. Connect the dots."  
  
"She does that and this? Why?" Miguel asked.  
  
"Because she is not quite as cruel or cold-hearted as some people like to pretend. If you'll excuse me--"  
  
"Hey, I'm happy to see you too." He said. "I never did anything to you, but I haven't seen you in years. Don't I at least get a smile or a hug?"  
  
Paloma had to smile. She hugged him. "I love you."  
  
"I love you, too," Miguel smiled. "Can I do anything?"  
  
"Kay's gonna kill me. You have a choice. Stay here and handle the party or go down to the clinic and help there. I take it you know CPR?"  
  
"I'm a cop, little one. I know some emergency medicine."  
  
"Kay is definitely going to kill me." She decided. "Go down and ask the doctor what needs to be done. He'll find something for you."  
  
"Okay," Miguel kissed her cheek. "Should I take Sam and Luis with me?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Sam and Luis are here too. It's an invasion of the past."  
  
She tensed for a second. "Since Kay's already going to string me up, take her father. Leave Luis here. I'll deal with him and prep him for Sheridan."  
  
"Okay," Miguel nodded and went in search of Sam.  
  
Paloma looked around and found her older brother. He was circulating with a tray of drinks and had just been stopped by Jennifer Garner and Scott Foley. She waited till he passed them by and then approached him.  
  
"Hi," she said calmly.  
  
"Hey Paloma." He greeted nonchalantly. "I like your hair long. Haven't seen it in a while, but it looks good."  
  
"Thanks. Sheridan left so you can stop looking for her."  
  
"Where'd she go?" He thrust the tray at her.  
  
"I'm not going to tell you, so keep on going with the free labor. Do me a favor, don't drop anything?"  
  
"Paloma Bridget," Luis started.  
  
"I'm not a child, it doesn't work anymore," she interjected. "Look, you can talk to her later, but you can't upset her."  
  
"I don't want to upset her." He snapped.  
  
"So calm down." She said. "Illogical and irrational behavior really turns her off."  
  
"I am calm," he gritted.  
  
"Really? I'd hate to see you upset if this is calm."  
  
He took a deep breath. "You made your point. Now where is she?"  
  
"She'll be back in a few hours. Until then, paste a smile on, don't start any fights, and watch movie stars get smashed."  
  
"My idea of heaven," he smiled sarcastically.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, just keep going." 


	6. Chapter 5

Ch 5  
  
Theresa rubbed her neck hours later. She was in the waiting room of the clinic. "Oh I feel like I could sleep for a year. What time is it?"  
  
Sheridan checked her watch. "4:15."  
  
"In the morning?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"How are things around here?"  
  
"Less crowded then they were an hour ago. Doc is just finishing some suturing and then we can go home."  
  
Theresa sighed contentedly, just before she remembered who was waiting at home for them.  
  
"Oh, crap," she said emphatically.  
  
"What?" Sheridan asked.  
  
"I just remembered some unfinished business at the club."  
  
"You mean your brothers, Kay's dad, and Ethan?"  
  
"You knew?" She did a double take.  
  
"They came down here to help tonight."  
  
"Which ones?"  
  
"Sam and Miguel. I think Ethan and Luis are still at the club."  
  
"Her dad and Miguel? Kay's going to have a nervous breakdown."  
  
"Let's just say your sister should probably lock her door tonight."  
  
"I'd laugh if I weren't so tired. I hope Poe saved us some food. I feel like I could eat an entire ham."  
  
"Half her party left with us. There will be leftovers."  
  
"The guys at the firehouse would probably appreciate me bringing them some." Theresa meditated. "But we'll see."  
  
"Why don't you go see if Toni's ready to go? As soon as we can lock up, Kay and I are leaving. We'll see you at home."  
  
"Sounds good," Theresa hugged Sheridan. "Don't let Sam and Miguel corner her okay?"  
  
"Oh, she's holding her own." Sheridan smiled. "She's stronger than you think." She tried to send a message to her sister-in-law.  
  
"I know," Theresa said. "See you at home. I wonder if Poe's still awake."  
  
"Probably."  
  
Theresa smiled before she left.  
  
HR  
  
Ethan looked at the clock again. "It's four-thirty in the morning. Where is she?"  
  
"Relax." Paloma said. "This isn't unusual. But if you wake the kids there'll be hell to pay." She looked back at Hank. "Help me." She mouthed.  
  
He rubbed her shoulder. "Ethan, sit down."  
  
"I don't want to sit down," he spat at him.  
  
"Luis?"  
  
"I am sitting."  
  
"No, I mean," Hank motioned to Ethan.  
  
"Oh. Ethan, you need to calm down," Luis said. "Sit down and relax."  
  
"iYou're/i telling ime/i to relax? That's an interesting role reversal." Ethan finally sat. He slumped forward, and rested his head in his hands. "I just can't believe she chose to do this to me, you know? I always knew she left, but I sort of thought--I don't know what I thought but she just stole those years of my life. And she's not even sorry. She doesn't even care that my daughter and son wouldn't even recognize me if they saw me on the street."  
  
Ethan had an unusual relationship with Rosemary. Since Gwen's institutionalization, he's been her primary caregiver. He hadn't often left her alone. She was the most important person in his life. Finding out that he had another daughter had shaken him profoundly. He had always known it abstractly, but concrete reality and abstractions are quite different in their impact.  
  
"Oh no you don't," Paloma said, shaking her head. "You do not get to play 'Poor little me' in this scenario. You are the one who called her a liar and told her that you didn't believe that Ethan was your son and that she was pregnant. You made your mistake and that mistake is the reason Emma doesn't know who you are. You blew Theresa off, not the other way around. You wanna hate someone Ethan? Start with yourself."  
  
He sat up. "You didn't even try to tell her to give me ten minutes to deal with the idea. Imagine the situation, if you will. I married a woman I didn't really love, but respected because she was pregnant. Then the girl I did love comes to me saying she's in the same spot, but it's too late. I overreacted, and trust me, I've beat myself up for it. I don't need you to do it for me."  
  
"She needed to get away from you and Julian and Ivy and Rebecca and Gwen and all the hate you had for her." Paloma said fiercely. "And I would never stop anyone from escaping that--"  
  
Hank slipped an arm around her, and hushed her gently. Luis noticed it with some surprise. A moment of disquiet was replaced by profound relief. Hank hadn't broken Luis's faith for Theresa's whim. He'd had a reason, and if the look on Luis's baby sister's face was any indication, it was probably a decent one. And even though he had never known Paloma's husband, Luis thought he saw some of his sister's own issues reflected in the desire to help their sister escape.  
  
"Arguing like this isn't getting us anything but pissed off," Hank said after a few moments of silence. "Anyone want something to drink?"  
  
"Wine, please," Kay said as she came in followed by Sheridan, Miguel, and Sam. She flopped into her favorite chair and immediately positioned herself so that her legs hung over the side. "And is there any food?"  
  
"What she said," Sheridan said, choosing to stretch out on the couch.  
  
"I have it ready, just let me heat it up for you." Paloma said. "Wait here."  
  
"What are they doing in here?" Theresa demanded. "They have a hotel."  
  
"Nice to see you, too, Theresa," Luis said as he got up and gave her a hug. "You look like hell."  
  
"Always were a flatterer," Sheridan murmured. "How much do we owe you Paloma? For the sitter I mean."  
  
She waved her hand. "Nothing."  
  
"Oh, we owe you." Kay said, allowing a poisonous sweetness to fill her tone.  
  
"Kill her in the kitchen, will ya? We just bought this carpet," Theresa said, as she fell into a chair.  
  
"You just stay here and talk. I'll get something together." Paloma escaped.  
  
Hank held up a hand at Kay. "You're dead on your feet. I'll help her."  
  
Kay subsided, pouting.  
  
HR  
  
"What is all this?" Hank looked around the kitchen in disbelief.  
  
"My mother-in-law taught me how to pull together a sit down dinner at four in the morning with ten minutes advance warning."  
  
"You know Ethan wasn't Him."  
  
"I know. Turn on the microwave for me?"  
  
"You almost lost it in there."  
  
"Yeah. Thanks." She looked at him. "I didn't want to go off on him, but he acts like he's a victim here."  
  
"They're both victims of circumstance."  
  
"Ethan started the creation of those circumstances when he told Theresa he didn't believe her. I know he's your nephew, but if you start defending him right now, I just may have to scream."  
  
"Enough said. I won't defend him."  
  
"Thank you," Paloma looked grateful. "Set the table," she handed him some plates.  
  
HR  
  
Theresa had her eyes closed and her arms folded across her stomach.  
  
Kay was curled up into a ball and she too had her eyes closed.  
  
Sheridan had her forearm resting on her forehead and she was staring at the ceiling.  
  
The only thing the women had in common was the fact that they were ignoring the four men in the room.  
  
The only thing the men had in common was a desperate uncertainty about how to begin.  
  
Ethan tried first, "Theresa?"  
  
"Ethan, I am tired, hungry, and in desperate need of a shower. When I have those three things taken care of, we can talk. Until then, shush."  
  
"Forgive me if your comfort is not utmost in my mind." He said sarcastically. "At your convenience of course."  
  
"Oh shut up Ethan," Sheridan said. "You didn't just spend the last six hours pulling people from wreckage that up until a little while ago was a building."  
  
"Leave him alone. You've spent the last five years with your child." Miguel said pointedly.  
  
"Leave her alone, Miguel," Kay snapped. "My child was staying with me and I did what I had to do to make sure that happened."  
  
"Children," Sam said, "are sleeping. You don't want to wake them up. So who left who and who hurt who worse can wait for the morning. Because I can guarantee that every person in this room has been hurt by the actions of other people in this room."  
  
"Dinner," Hank said poking his head in. "Who's hungry?"  
  
HR  
  
Theresa dried her hair after her shower. She just wanted to fall into bed.  
  
"Theresa, it's Poe. Can I come in?"  
  
"Yeah sure."  
  
"Thanks," she entered and shut the door behind her. "We're doubling up tonight."  
  
"I thought they left."  
  
"Hank convinced me to let them stay the night and get some sleep. Sam and Miguel worked just as hard as you, Sheridan, and Kay did tonight."  
  
"I know. Okay, climb in."  
  
"Are you okay?" Paloma asked her sister.  
  
"I'm tired and I'm achy and I just want to go to sleep."  
  
"I'll get up with the kids tomorrow. Sleep as late as you want."  
  
"How do you do that?" Theresa yawned.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You have this internal alarm clock. You never oversleep. It's really annoying."  
  
"I know," Paloma smiled. "Go to sleep. Everything will still be there in the morning."  
  
"Gee, that's encouraging."  
  
The sisters laughed.  
  
HR  
  
Miguel seethed in the room he shared with his brother. "Did you see them, Luis? Acting like we were the ones who--who--they took away my daughter, three nephews, and niece, not to mention two sisters and best friend and in- law and they acted like I was evil."  
  
"You asked Kay to let you and Charity raise Olivia. If I were Kay, I'd have clocked you."  
  
"I didn't--well, okay I did say it. I wasn't thinking. And, yeah, she should've clocked me, not run away from home."  
  
"You know she and Grace weren't on the best of terms back then. She probably thought that she'd take your side with Charity and try to convince her that you and Charity would do a better job of raising the baby then she could."  
  
"I have thought of all this, thank you, Luis. You're supposed to be on my side here."  
  
"I'm on my side. If getting in good with the girls gets Sheridan to talk to me then so be it."  
  
"You're my brother!"  
  
"Always. But I want another shot with Sheridan."  
  
"She'll shoot you all right." Miguel said. "I'm not the only one in hot water here."  
  
"What did I do?"  
  
"Marry Beth, have a daughter, little things like that."  
  
"She left," Luis protested. "She also married and had Antonio's baby."  
  
"Not feeling so reasonable after all, are we?"  
  
"Look, I get Kay. I get Theresa. I even get Sheridan." Luis admitted. "I don't understand why Paloma went with them. She hadn't seen any of us for years, and she just followed Theresa across the country?"  
  
"I'm just glad they let us stay tonight." Miguel rambled. "I'll get to see her in the morning. Luis, how did you feel the first time you saw Chloe? What's it going to be like?"  
  
"Scary," Luis said simply.  
  
"Scary?"  
  
"Yes. You have this whole other person you're responsible for. It's a scary thought. You have to make sure they grow up right, that they don't get into trouble, and that they're taught right from wrong."  
  
"She's four years old. I already missed so much."  
  
"There's still a lot more. You just have to hope that Kay's calmed down a little."  
  
"Kay holds grudges better than anyone I've ever met." Miguel said, becoming depressed at the thought.  
  
"Exactly. Good luck and good night."  
  
"Night."  
  
HR  
  
"Kay? You awake?"  
  
"Yeah," the brunette sighed. "You can't sleep either?"  
  
"No," Sheridan admitted.  
  
"What is it about the Lopez-Fitzgerald boys?" Kay whispered. "They screw with your head and your heart and you let them and you love them."  
  
"And it never goes away," Sheridan said. "I think we should kill 'em."  
  
"Think Theresa and Paloma would mind?"  
  
"I think they'd not only understand, I think they'd help us hide the bodies."  
  
"Yeah but what about my brother and Dad?"  
  
"Theresa would take out Ethan." Sheridan frowned. "But none of us have anything against your dad, so maybe we need to rethink this."  
  
"Truth be told, I was glad to see him tonight," Kay smiled. "Ethan reminds me a lot of him sometimes."  
  
Sheridan laughed a little. "Ethan does have that moral air doesn't he?"  
  
Kay nodded. "At least one of them does. I don't know what we'd do with five Emmas."  
  
"Lord, I hope we never find out." Sheridan sighed. "I sometimes wonder if Luis were like that as a kid."  
  
"I hope Livvie's not like I was as a kid. Especially during my teenage years. I worry about her and Emma being the same age sometimes. I just hope they don't fall for the same boy."  
  
"Nah. I can tell even now that they'd never go for the same guy."  
  
"It's just that I see them sometimes, and they're best friends, and I want them to have that forever."  
  
"They will," Sheridan said. "It's not like you and Charity. They're growing up together. They'll be in school together."  
  
"At least they aren't Jess and me."  
  
"God help us all," Sheridan said. "Ow!" she pouted when Kay smacked her arm.  
  
"Baby," Kay teased.  
  
HR  
  
"What would you do?" Ethan asked his father.  
  
Sam shook his head. "I wouldn't have let her go. Ethan, you have to believe that if I knew about you I would've been there. You are my son, and I wish I had been a part of your childhood. And I know it's important for you to be there while Emma and Ethan and Rosemary grow up."  
  
"I have the memory of Ethan Martin being born. I delivered him. I was there when Gwen had Rosemary. I don't have that with Emma. I have no connection with her at all. I hate that."  
  
Sam nodded. "To build a connection with her, you have to start with her mother."  
  
"How? She won't talk to me, unless she's blaming me for something."  
  
"I don't want you to think I'm taking Theresa's side, cause I'm not, but she does have a point. You did turn your back on her."  
  
"For ten minutes." Ethan admitted. "Then I went to look for her, and she was with Sheridan, and I figured it was a good thing for Sheridan to have someone to talk with. So I waited. And then she was gone. And it's been five years, and she's had her issues, and to be honest I've had mine."  
  
"When did you last visit Gwen? You don't talk about it much."  
  
"She's mostly catatonic. I visit, I tell her about Rosemary. I leave new pictures every time. I don't know how to reach her. I'm not the person she thought I was. I'm not the one she loves."  
  
"Just keep trying with Theresa. She's the one you want. Don't give up."  
  
"If you knew about me, would you have fought for Ivy?"  
  
"Probably."  
  
"Do you wish you had?"  
  
Sam nodded. "Some days more than others. I'm grateful that I have Grace, and Noah, and Jessica, and Kay. But I wish more than I can tell you that I had had a hand in your life earlier."  
  
"Me too," Ethan nodded. "If you had maybe I'd have always been with Theresa."  
  
"That's quite possible," Sam said.  
  
"Speaking of, I better get some sleep so we're on level ground in the morning."  
  
"There is no level ground. Women always have the upper hand." Sam warned.  
  
"I'll try and remember that," Ethan nodded. 


	7. Chapter 6

Ch 6  
  
Theresa woke up to knocking on her bedroom door. She looked at the clock on her bedside table. It was 11:32.  
  
"Who is it?"  
  
"Theresa?"  
  
"I'm not awake yet, Ethan. Go away."  
  
"I have coffee." He offered. "And the newspaper."  
  
Theresa assessed her pajamas: a T-shirt with the words La Jolla Beach on it and a pair of boxer shorts.  
  
"Okay, come in."  
  
He held out the mug to her. It was the color of mud. She took a tentative sip. It was sugary. She had drunk coffee this way until she started juggling her job as a paramedic and a mother. She had taken to drinking her coffee stronger, with less cream. But Ethan wouldn't know that, and she realized that she didn't want to spit in his face after making this gesture. "Thanks."  
  
"Sure," Ethan nodded. He put the paper on her bed and stood awkwardly in the middle of her room.  
  
Theresa pointed to the chair by her vanity. "Pull up a seat."  
  
"Thanks," he dragged the chair over and sat down.  
  
"So, what's up?"  
  
"I met Emma." He said.  
  
Panic flashed through her.  
  
"Paloma introduced us all as family friends. Miguel looked like he was going to cry. He and Kay and Sheridan and Sam took Olivia and Thomas and sidewalk chalk to a park. Luis and Hank went for a run and a talk. Paloma's playing Candyland with Alex and Emma and Ethan's putting together a puzzle." He looked at her. "They're amazing, Theresa."  
  
"Thank you. I hear Rosemary's pretty amazing too. Hank is very fond of her," Theresa said. "I hear Mama loves her too."  
  
"She is something special." Ethan said. "But I am a little bit biased."  
  
"I think we all are. Emma and Livvie are the best of friends. So are Alex, Thomas, and Ethan."  
  
"Ethan seems to take rules and order seriously."  
  
"God knows where he gets that." Theresa flashed a quick smile. "He has Thomas to keep him from being too serious."  
  
"What is Thomas like?"  
  
"A well-behaved clown, most of the time. He's addicted to making us laugh."  
  
"Was Antonio like that?"  
  
A smile crossed Theresa's face. "Yeah he was," she nodded. "God I miss him."  
  
"Yeah I know."  
  
She looked at him. "I heard about Gwen. I'm sorry. I hated her but no one deserves to lose their mind."  
  
Ethan nodded. "I know there wasn't love lost between you, but I think you'll agree that she didn't deserve to have Rebecca for a mother. More problems go back to that woman." He shook his head. "Separate talk."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"She wants me to send Rosie to boarding school." Ethan said. "She's scaring her with that kind of talk. She's four, for heaven's sake. She's not going anywhere."  
  
"I always knew you'd never send your kids away. You'd find a private school that was in the same city and you'd send them there but you'd never send them away, no matter what."  
  
"Well, I guess I just remember the feeling of having no family around. It's not a good one."  
  
"I've never been that far from family." Theresa said. "I wouldn't want to be."  
  
"You've been a country away from them."  
  
"Sheridan, Kay, and Poe are my family too, ya know."  
  
"I don't want to argue. I want to know what your life is like here."  
  
"Nothing special. The kids have their school, Kay has school, Sheridan has the clinic, we all have the club, especially Poe, and I have my job."  
  
"What are your routines?"  
  
"We get up, we eat, depending on what day it is one of us gets the kids to school. Sheridan goes and opens the clinic, Poe opens the club, the kids come home, I go to work and come home. By that time, mainly everyone's asleep, unless Kay has a test she's studying for or Hank's here."  
  
"How often does he visit?"  
  
"He's like driftwood. Some mornings we just wake up and there he is." She laughed.  
  
"That's fun."  
  
"Yeah. So, what are you doing? Tell me you're not still living in the mansion."  
  
"Rosie and I have our own place. It's not much to look at, but Whitney does what she can to make sure we have curtains in the windows and food in the cupboard at the least." He made a nervous gesture. "She's been a good friend to us. It hit her hard--losing you, and then Chad."  
  
"Yeah, Hank told me. Wild, huh? I'm not surprised that Simone joined a convent."  
  
"Eve almost left town. It all came down on Whitney. You know how she idolized her mother. And TC--things were a mess for a while there."  
  
"I can imagine," Theresa nodded. "So how is your mother?"  
  
"She lived to wheel away another day." Ethan shrugged. "She rode Gwen hard, and when my wife snapped...well, no one got really hurt but it finally divided Rebecca and Ivy permanently."  
  
"So the Witches of Eastwick are now enemies. Poor Rosie."  
  
"What?"  
  
"It must be hard for her when her grandmothers hate each other."  
  
"I do what I can to limit her contact with them. The way I see it, they caused half of her mother's problems. When we signed her into the hospital Gwen's father kept saying he should've gotten rid of Rebecca and raised Gwen at home, not sent her away to boarding school." Ethan shrugged. "I'm not going to let them make the same mistakes on Rosie."  
  
"Good for you," Theresa smiled. "Sheridan says she won't ever send Thomas away either. She wants him raised with his cousins not with strangers."  
  
Ethan literally bit his tongue. Theresa noticed his internal struggle. "What?"  
  
"Well, did you ever think about how Chloe and Rosie are going to feel when they grow up and realize they've been left out of the cousin's club?"  
  
Theresa sighed. "Ethan, this is home for us. I won't pack them up and bring them to a strange place just so you feel better. I have a job here. One I like. Face it. We're not the same people anymore."  
  
"We were never the same people, Theresa." He said. "I'm not asking you to come back to Harmony. I just thought it would be nice for cousins to meet each other sometime."  
  
"That would be great. If you can make it happen be my guest. But Kay always said that the thought of going back to Harmony makes her stomach knot up. So she isn't going back anytime soon, no matter what my brother or your father says. As for me, I have no desire to go there."  
  
He shrugs. "In a large degree, your issues are your own. But I know Pilar would like to see her grandchildren."  
  
Theresa looked away. "We called her a few years ago. We asked her to meet us in Kansas for a few weeks without Luis or Miguel or you. She refused."  
  
"I can't believe it." Ethan sat on the edge of the bed, back to Theresa.  
  
"Ask Sheridan if you don't believe me," Theresa paused. "Speaking of Sheridan, there's something you should probably know."  
  
"What?" Ethan asked, nervousness putting an edge in his voice.  
  
"Just, you can't tell Luis, okay?"  
  
"Okay," Ethan nodded, turning to face her. "Theresa?"  
  
"She was hospitalized after Thomas was born. She wasn't too stable even before we got here but it got worse. Finally she just couldn't function and we put her in the hospital. I was named next of kin so I had to sign the papers," Theresa said as she looked down at her hands.  
  
"It's hard to do." He said. "Even when there is no choice."  
  
"There wasn't," she looked up. "But she did get better, thankfully. It took six months of in-patient therapy and another year of out-patient appointments but she did get better."  
  
"Thank you." He said.  
  
"For what?"  
  
"For taking care of her when I couldn't."  
  
"We all take care of each other."  
  
He nodded. "How is Kay?"  
  
"She's good. She's on her way to becoming a great teacher. She's already a terrific mother. Livvie is a great kid."  
  
"What's her personality? Emma seems to be the chief mischief maker, but is Livvie and active or reluctant participant?"  
  
"She's calmer but she does do her share of mischief." Theresa looked to the clock. "Shoot! I have to get ready and go to work."  
  
"You have forty-five minutes."  
  
"Have you ever battled traffic downtown?"  
  
"Uh no."  
  
"Right," Theresa got out of bed. She paused and turned around. "You have to leave now."  
  
He laughed honestly. "Be careful? We still have more talking to do."  
  
"Right. See you later," she shooed him out of her room and closed the door.  
  
HR  
  
"Livvie's a great kid," Miguel said to Kay while they watched Sam play with Olivia and Thomas.  
  
"She's perfect." Kay said wistfully. "I look at her, and that's what I see."  
  
"She doesn't even know who I am."  
  
"Do you want to fight with me?"  
  
"Yes. No. I'm not sure. Half of me wants to kill you, the other half wants to grab hold of you so you don't run away again."  
  
Kay sighed. "I'm too close to my teaching degree to run away again."  
  
"You really want to do that? I thought it was just kid stuff when you used to say that."  
  
"Of course you did. It didn't have anything to do with you so why should I be serious, right?"  
  
"I meant that you used to make me and Reese and Jess play school for hours."  
  
"Right," Kay nodded.  
  
"And then all of a sudden, you were all about softball. It was all you talked about, all you thought about, almost all you did."  
  
"Because I wanted to be around you, dummy."  
  
"But I joined the team because you did." He protested.  
  
"But you talked about it before I joined it," she pointed out.  
  
"Cause Antonio and Luis played." He laughed.  
  
"Oh," Kay said, as she looked back at Olivia. "I think she'll be a tomboy."  
  
"There are worse things." Miguel said agreeably.  
  
"I'm not going back to Harmony and there is nothing you can say to convince me otherwise. The thought of it makes my stomach knot up."  
  
"Who suggested going home? Where your mother and sister and brother are."  
  
"I have sisters here and listening to my mother tell me what a horrible thing I did by taking my daughter away from Harmony before she was even born does not rank high on my list of things I want to do in the near future."  
  
k4writer02: "What about attending your brother's wedding?"  
  
"I'll send a gift like I did with Jess' wedding," Kay said. "I'm not going back to Harmony."  
  
"Livvie would like it there." He said simply. "The beach, the waves."  
  
"There are beaches here."  
  
"The water's dirty, and the Pacific is rougher than the Atlantic."  
  
"You're arguing with me over the quality of beaches as an incentive to pick up my life, my daughter, leave a place I love to go back to a place I hated? You should thank God that you're pretty, because most of the brains in your family went elsewhere."  
  
"Insulting me is not going to change my mind on where you should be. You and Livvie belong back in Harmony with our family."  
  
"What is it with you? Do you see your mother and brother as the only stable family in the world because you're all blood related? I have got news for you Miguel. There are other ways to be family. Blood doesn't make a family, love does. Sheridan, Theresa, Poe, and I are family. We're sisters. It's not about who's related to who by what way. It's about loving each other and being there for one another. That's the way we're family."  
  
"That and all five of the kids share a grandmother, who has never seen three of them."  
  
"Your mother had her chance to see Livvie, Thomas, Emma, Ethan, and Alex. She refused."  
  
"What are you talking about? Mama goes to Mass every day, and lights candles in the windows for all of you to guide you home. Ten candles in the kitchen windowsill--no wonder our house kept burning down."  
  
"There are nine of us."  
  
"She's still praying for Papa."  
  
"Oh. Anyway, what I am talking about is a certain phone call we made to her a couple of years ago. We asked her to meet us in Kansas so she could see the kids. She said no because we didn't want her to tell any of you."  
  
"She never told us." He said slowly.  
  
"I figured," Kay looked back at Livvie. "Excuse me, I'm going to go play with my daughter."  
  
"Hey, Thomas, Livvie, lets use some of that sidewalk chalk." Miguel called to the kids.  
  
"Okay!" the kids ran for the two of them.  
  
Sheridan came back from getting some sodas. She handed one to Kay. "You all right?"  
  
Kay nodded, "Yeah I think so. Pilar never told them that we called her."  
  
"Really?" Sheridan asked, as Sam came up behind them, carrying juice boxes.  
  
"Thanks Dad. Livvie? Thomas? You guys want some juice?"  
  
Livvie looked from the chalk in her hand to the juice box. After a moment of conflict, she shook her head. Following her lead, Thomas also refused.  
  
"Save them for later, I guess," Kay smiled. "Beautiful day."  
  
"Yes it is," Sam agreed. "Sheridan, can I have a moment alone with my daughter?"  
  
"Uh, sure," Sheridan nodded. "I'll go help Miguel."  
  
Kay looked up at her father. "I missed you Dad."  
  
Sam looked at her. She turned away from the sheer pain in his eyes. Had she done that? She had been so tired, so desperate to get away. She thought no one would notice, or care if they had. But her father had noticed after all.  
  
"I missed you too," he said as he looked at Olivia. "I missed a lot. She looks like you."  
  
"She's prettier than I was." Kay said, an automatic thought.  
  
"No, she's not. She's just as pretty as you were, as you still are."  
  
"The difference is she feels pretty."  
  
Sam literally bit his tongue to hold in a sharp retort. "Your mother and I were harder on you than we thought." He admitted. "But you were always one of the lights of our lives."  
  
"I got replaced."  
  
"Stop that." Sam scolded. "So you felt that Charity came in and took over your life. Quit the poor little me act. You've had five years on your own to grow up and past that."  
  
"I did get past that. I got past feeling like I wasn't good enough for mom. I am a mom now. I love my daughter and I will never make her feel the way Mom made me feel. I will never call her evil. She, and any other child who comes along, will always come first. I won't let a niece I've never seen before come between us."  
  
"You know what your problem and Grace's problem was?"  
  
"I always thought it was that I was never good enough, but please, enlighten me." Kay said bitterly.  
  
"Your personalities clashed. You were always a bit edgy. Your mother doesn't understand edges. For her, life should always be nice and everyone should get along over cake and cookies. That life wasn't for you. You threatened her. By the time you were six you were ready to explode. You didn't fit what she expected from a little girl. You were wild. She was always trying to correct it. I didn't help, I know it now, but I never backed her up.  
  
He continued, "You would scare her to death by jumping out of a tree, or getting in a fight at school, and all I could do was laugh sometimes. She always took it seriously. I never could. I saw a lot of Hank in you, and he turned out okay, even if he is a drifter. But I saw my old man try to control him, and I saw how it ripped them apart, so I didn't want that for you and me. I couldn't see that it was happening to you and your mother.  
  
He sighed. "She's usually good with feelings, even if she does keep that innocence glowing a bit brightly. She loves you so much, and was so scared of losing you, that she tried to change you, even when you were a little girl. And because she was trying to change you, you thought she didn't love you. And so you two struggled against each other, and it was love you were feeling, even when you were frustrated and furious." He rested for a minute.  
  
"I know it did you a disservice, but I never thought you didn't know how much we love you." Sam said finally. "I've had a long time to think about what I would say to, about what I did wrong. So has your mother." He finally frowned. "We love you. We miss you. And she would not have supported taking Livvie away from you."  
  
"I believe that you wouldn't have. You and I have always gotten along better then Mom and me. But once Charity showed up she became the one thing mom had always wanted. A daughter who was willing to arrange her life around what God said. I'm never gonna be that way. I don't want to be that way. I finally realized that I'm not the daughter Mom should have had. Charity is."  
  
"Your mother has a lot of issues about her past. She lost her past, and with it herself. She lost a lifetime. Much as you claim to hate Harmony, would you really want to begin your life all over at the age of twenty? Start as a blank slate, with no memories of home or family? Imagine that you couldn't remember me reading to you at night, or fighting with Noah and Jessie in the leaves. Imagine you didn't even know their names. Then out of the sky drops Jess's daughter. You don't remember that you used to fight with her mother, you can't remember anything. You just grab onto that thread." Sam sighed.  
  
Her father continued. "I'm not getting through to you, am I? Please, let me put it in terms you can relate to immediately. You said you love Livvie, that you'll never make her feel the way Grace made you feel. So you love her and guide her and take care of her for eighteen years. And suddenly she spits in you face, calls you names, and runs away. And for five years, you don't know where she is. You don't know if she's safe, if she's lonely or happy, if she misses you. You've had your child for less than five years, but can you imagine tomorrow without her?"  
  
Kay looked at her shoes and then at her father. "I had a reason for those things. I was in love with Miguel and I had been his best friend for my entire life. But suddenly that was thrown aside for a girl that just dropped out of the sky. But did Mom understand that? No. Because she's always had your love. She's always had your support. You are her best friend and you've never dropped her for a complete stranger. You know what it's like to have the rug pulled out from under you. You know what it's like to be left in the dust. I didn't want to hurt you Dad that was the last thing I wanted. But the minute little miss holier than thou showed up I was yesterday's news. To my family and to my friends. You try living with that," Kay finished angrily and then she walked away, leaving her daughter with Sheridan.  
  
Sam clenched his hands. Even though his daughter couldn't hear him, he mumbled. "I don't know what it's like to have the rug pulled out from under me? Who do you think David was? Married twenty years and for all we knew he could have been her husband. What do you think Ivy did to us? And what about this? Luis gets to go a little crazy because Hank's his best friend. Well I'm his brother, and I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet about his lies."  
  
HR  
  
"Okay, enough," Luis said. "We've been running for forty minutes. "We need to talk."  
  
"Wimping out on me?"  
  
"Funny," Luis shot him a look. "My sisters? Sheridan? Kay? Is any of this ringing a bell?"  
  
"They needed help, Luis. They needed a connection to home. They turned to me, and I couldn't turn them away."  
  
"But you could lie to me and to Sam for five years? Five years, Hank. My brother doesn't even know his own daughter."  
  
Hank looked at him, and Luis saw guilt in his eyes. "But they're all alive. Couldn't you see that Harmony was killing them? Suffocating them, choking them. If they hadn't gotten out, Theresa would've been the one to snap, not Gwen. Sheridan would've been in Julian and Alistair's power. Kay would've-- lord knows what she might have done." Hank shut his mouth stubbornly.  
  
"You forgot someone."  
  
"She need to get away most of all."  
  
"Paloma had just gotten home, why would she need to leave so fast?"  
  
"That's not for me to tell. It's for you."  
  
"The least you could've done is gotten Sheridan to call me and let me know that she's okay and that Alistair didn't lock her up in a sanitarium somewhere."  
  
Hank hid his surprise at the accuracy of Luis' remark while his mind drifted.  
  
I"Hello?" Hank said into the phone, groggily. He checked the clock on his nightstand. 1a.m.  
  
"Hank?"  
  
"Theresa? Do you know what- What's wrong?" He asked, suddenly wide-awake as he sat up in bed.  
  
"It's Sheridan."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"She had a breakdown tonight."  
  
"Is Thomas okay?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"He's fine. She's not."  
  
"I'll be there tomorrow."/i  
  
"Earth to Hank." Luis said sharply. "I was scared to death. I knew losing Antonio hit her hard. I knew she was scared about the baby, and me, and her family. I knew all that, so when she disappeared--" Luis bit his lip. "I did some research on her condition. It's called a fugue. It's a dissociative disorder, where an alternate personality is created. I thought she might've slipped back into with all the stress."  
  
i"Sheridan?"  
  
"Who's Sheridan? My name's Diana. Have you seen Brian?"/I  
  
Hank shook his head. "You need to talk to Sheridan. I'm not the one who has the answers you want."  
  
"You have some answers. You just won't give them to me."  
  
"They're not my answers." He said. "I can only answer for what I did, and that's more than enough for me. I saw the pain I could have helped, and I hated myself for not doing it, but there were...other factors. I know I may have permanently damaged our friendship. I know Sam may never speak to me again, and I know that the rest of Harmony is going to side with you. But the girls needed me. You're allowed to hate it, but can you respect it?"  
  
"I don't know. I don't know how you could know where they were, watch us wonder, watch us worry, and not say anything. My mother-"  
  
"Threw away her chance to see them. And if you don't believe me, ask her. I was in the room when Poe and Theresa called her. She wouldn't see them because of her loyalty to you."  
  
"But her loyalty to them meant she didn't say anything." Luis said bitterly. "Twice cursed for inaction, that's my mother."  
  
Hank nodded. "Look, I understand you're angry. If it was me, I'd be homicidal and I know you probably haven't ruled that out. But I'm still your best friend Luis. I hope you're still mine," Hank finished and then he started to jog back to the apartment.  
  
"Wait." Luis called.  
  
Hank turned to face him.  
  
Luis noted with respect that maybe the time for running had ended, that maybe it was time for all of them to turn and face the consequences. "You did a good job taking care of them."  
  
"Not as good as I would've liked." Hank responded.  
  
"But was it the best you could do?"  
  
"I think so."  
  
"Then, thank you," Luis shook his hand. "We should get back. I wanted to talk to Theresa and Poe."  
  
Hank checked his watch. "You can talk to Poe. But you're gonna have to wait awhile to talk to Theresa."  
  
"She's on duty again?" Luis asked, a grim mix of surprise and anger and maybe respect in his voice.  
  
"She doesn't call off because she worked hard the day before." Hank said. "She takes her responsibilities seriously here."  
  
"Public servant."  
  
"Must run in the family. I think it's called 'a desire to save the world gene'." Hank grinned.  
  
"At least it skipped one of us. The club looked great. Did my baby sister really do it all?"  
  
Hank shrugged one shoulder. "Talk to her about it. The club might be a good way for her to start talking."  
  
"Good idea. C'mon, I'll race ya."  
  
"One, two,- Hey!" Hank shouted as Luis took off running.  
  
HR  
  
"Emma, do you want some juice?" Paloma asked her niece.  
  
Emma looked piquant for a second. "What about fizzy water?" It was the family code for soda.  
  
"You had some last night. Today is a juice day."  
  
"Okay," was Emma's glum response.  
  
Paloma smiled. "Here, have some of your mom's cookies."  
  
A smiled beamed from the little girl as she grabbed three.  
  
"What's the magic word?" Paloma's voice lilted lightly in reprimand.  
  
"Please and thank you Aunt Poe."  
  
"You're welcome. Sit at the table to drink the grape juice."  
  
Emma obeyed and Paloma checked on Ethan and Alex who were in the living room.  
  
They were giggling, but when they noticed her, they stopped. She raised an eyebrow. "What are you boys doing?"  
  
"Nothing," Ethan said in an innocent voice that Paloma didn't buy for a minute.  
  
"Alex?"  
  
Her son looked to his cousin, who shook his head slightly. Alex looked up at his mother. "Nothing." He repeated, in a guilty tone.  
  
"Okay," Paloma nodded. "By the way, tonight, Livvie, Emma, and Thomas will be watching Aladdin while you two clean your rooms."  
  
"We didn't do anything!" Ethan exclaimed indignantly. "Yet." His conscience pricked.  
  
"So, what were you going to do?" Paloma asked.  
  
Alex poked his cousin, who poked back. Neither answered. She was about to begin a serious interrogation, when the door opened and Luis came in.  
  
"Hi Mr. Luis," Alex said.  
  
Luis looked at his sisters' children and recognized an expression he often saw on his own daughter's face. "You do know that they're going to catch whatever you're planning."  
  
Ethan and Alex made faces at him.  
  
"Mama, can I have a snack?" Alex tried.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
"Goldfish."  
  
"Ethan?"  
  
"Mama's cookies."  
  
"You need to sit with Emma at the table."  
  
"Okay. C'mon Alex," Ethan said as the two boys ran into the kitchen.  
  
Paloma listened and was satisfied that neither of the boys needed any help.  
  
She turned to Luis, "How was your run?"  
  
"Hank said that to get answers, I needed to talk to you."  
  
"Me?"  
  
"And the others. Paloma, we hadn't seen you for years. What was so bad that you had to leave after less than two days at home?"  
  
"My sister was going crazy so I wanted to help her. Getting her the hell away from that house seemed like the best idea."  
  
"And Kay and Sheridan?"  
  
"They were Theresa's idea. She knew leaving them there wouldn't do much for their mental health. Especially Sheridan. How on earth she survived with Julian and Alistair all those years is beyond me."  
  
"To all of us." Luis agreed. "But you're deflecting the question. I'm not sure I really know you anymore, but I do know that isn't that whole reason."  
  
"Luis, can't you just accept that we couldn't be happy in Harmony and that we had to go some place where we could be happy?"  
  
"How did you know that you wouldn't be happy there? I understand the others, but not you."  
  
"I didn't know that I wouldn't be happy there. But Theresa did. I didn't want her to be alone with one baby and another on the way. The day we decided to leave we heard Kay and Miguel out in the hall having an argument. When we talked to her we just knew we couldn't leave her there. Theresa knew the same was true of Sheridan when she talked to her. And honestly, can you tell me you're not a little glad that Ethan wasn't Julian's and that Thomas didn't grow up at the Crane mansion?"  
  
"I'm working on it." Luis said. "Honest. But it's not easy. Intellectually, I might understand why you did the things you did. But in my heart, I still can't."  
  
"Look over there at those pictures. Particularly the ones of Sheridan and Thomas. Look at their smiles. Look at their eyes."  
  
He sighed. "Your club looks good."  
  
"It's our club."  
  
"Right," Luis nodded. "Hey, what time does Theresa get off?"  
  
"She's supposed to get off at eleven but that's only if there's nothing big going on or she doesn't have a last minute call. There's a police radio in my office downstairs."  
  
"Is that legal here?"  
  
"Sure. We got it from a cop. Theresa works at Station 33."  
  
"Where's that?"  
  
"It's at 6406 South Main Street. The South Central part of LA."  
  
"That's a rough area."  
  
"I know." Paloma said. "We all took self defense and carry pepper spray and are very careful."  
  
"Still, she's a-"  
  
"If you say girl, I will deck you."  
  
"Can I say woman?"  
  
"I'll still deck you."  
  
"And to think that your name means pleasant and mild."  
  
She laughed. "How's Chloe?"  
  
"She's good," Luis dug for his wallet. "That's her."  
  
Paloma looked at her and smiled. "She looks like, well, I hate to admit it but, she looks like Beth."  
  
"I like to think she looks like me," he said, a bit stiffly.  
  
"She does." Paloma said. "Is she as stubborn?"  
  
"Yes and no. She can be stubborn about some things."  
  
"Ah. She's like Mama then."  
  
"And you." He said.  
  
"And Theresa." She defended.  
  
"Theresa's stubborn about everything." Luis refuted.  
  
The siblings smiled together briefly. Then, Paloma noticed the silence coming from the kitchen. "They're being too quiet. I think I better check on that."  
  
"Alex is some kid."  
  
"I know." She beamed. "Thanks."  
  
"Is he anything like his father?"  
  
Paloma froze. "They are inothing/i alike, do you understand me?"  
  
Chilled, Luis watched her leave. Maybe his instincts about her marriage were right after all.  
  
HR  
  
Theresa pulled her hair back after she'd changed out of her uniform. She grabbed her bag and headed downstairs. Waving a goodnight to the first watch crew she went down the stairs to the street.  
  
"Theresa!" Toni yelled after her.  
  
"Hey," she turned around. "Thought you left."  
  
"Oh I was talking to some of the guys. Mom wants to know if you're coming this weekend. Mickey's getting married."  
  
"I thought he was still in jail."  
  
"No, that's big Mickey, this is little Mickey. He just became a CPA."  
  
"Fun."  
  
"Anyway, you coming?"  
  
"When?"  
  
"Sunday. You have off right?"  
  
"Yeah. Is there gonna be a fight?"  
  
"There's gonna be beer."  
  
"Okay, I'll come," Theresa laughed.  
  
"Great," Toni grinned and then whistled. "Hello Hunk."  
  
Theresa turned and looked, "No. Not hunk. Brother. My brother."  
  
"Still cute. See ya tomorrow."  
  
"Bye."  
  
"Theresa!" Luis called. She waved.  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"Didn't want you to walk," Luis said.  
  
"I don't. I usually take the train when I don't drive in."  
  
"Well, I borrowed Kay's car," Luis pointed.  
  
"Luis, I do know how to take care of myself you know."  
  
"How's this? I want to interrogate you about our baby sister and my nephews and nieces and your life and how you really are."  
  
"The diner up the block is open all night. You hungry?"  
  
"I'll even buy."  
  
"Good. I'm starving. Tonight was hard."  
  
"Wanna talk?"  
  
"I don't like bringing work home."  
  
"Unless you get it out of you, you do bring it everywhere."  
  
"It was just one call after another. Traffic accidents, drug OD's, chest pains, and my personal favorite, a guy who was up a tree naked, drunk, and singing songs from My Fair Lady."  
  
Luis snorted. "Naked in a tree? Was he a soprano?"  
  
"He had a worse voice then you do."  
  
Luis mock shuddered.  
  
Theresa laughed as she pulled open the door of the diner. "Hi Maddie."  
  
"Hey Theresa," the older woman said. "And who's this?"  
  
"My brother, Luis. Luis this is Maddie Risotti. She's my partner's mother."  
  
"Pleasure to meet you , ma'am," Luis turned on the charm.  
  
"You too. Look at that smile. Is that something all the boys in your family get? Cause your nephews have that too."  
  
"Each and every one of us, ma'am."  
  
"How many of you are there?"  
  
"Now, just five. There were six."  
  
Theresa's face got serious.  
  
"Oh right. Your sister Sheridan's husband," Maddie said to Theresa.  
  
"Right. Oh I told Toni I'd be at the wedding."  
  
"Good. You bring that family of yours. All of them."  
  
"You sure you could handle all of us? Paloma can barely do it in the club."  
  
"The more the merrier. You want the usual?"  
  
"Yes, please. Luis? What do you want?"  
  
"What's your usual?"  
  
"The bacon cheeseburger platter."  
  
"Sounds good to me."  
  
"Coming up. Park it over there," Maddie pointed to a booth.  
  
"Thanks Maddie."  
  
Brother and sister sat down.  
  
"Nice lady."  
  
"Yeah. She's had a rough time though. Her first husband died in the line of duty. He was a cop down the street at the Southwest Community Station. Then her second husband died of cancer."  
  
"That's rough. She work here long?"  
  
"All her life. Toni's grandfather started this place after he got out of the army."  
  
"It seems like a good place." Luis said.  
  
Theresa nodded. "It is."  
  
"Are we ever gonna talk about what we're both thinking about?"  
  
"I can avoid it if you can."  
  
"What do you know about Paloma's husband?"  
  
"Almost nothing. She doesn't talk about him much."  
  
"She almost flipped out when I asked if Alex is at all like him."  
  
"She's done her best to make sure there are no resemblances between Alex and Alejandro."  
  
"So you know his name?"  
  
"Santiago. Alejandro Santiago."  
  
Luis flinched. "Alejandro Santiago, from Cataluna?"  
  
"No, Barcelona."  
  
"When was the last time you took Spanish history? Barcelona is the capital of Cataluna."  
  
"Why does it matter?"  
  
"Because Alejandro Santiago from Seville was not the kind of man I'd want anyone in my family associated with."  
  
"You knew him? Wait, you just said he was from Barcelona."  
  
"Of him." Luis shifted uncomfortably. "He was involved in the family business. Mostly petty stuff, but seven or eight years ago the family got involved in gunrunning."  
  
"In Spain?" Theresa looked doubtful.  
  
"Yes," Luis nodded. "Paloma was married to him?"  
  
"Hold on, we don't know if it was the same guy. We don't know anything."  
  
"Because she won't tell us. She won't tell you, she keeps changing the subject with me."  
  
"Maybe there isn't anything to tell."  
  
"Well, if there is, she must've told someone."  
  
"She did."  
  
"What?" Luis looked shocked.  
  
"Hank."  
  
Realization hit Luis. "He said she needed to get out more than the rest of you. And there were those guys..."  
  
"What guys?"  
  
"Big guys came around asking about her the day you all left. We didn't think about it much. There was enough else to worry about."  
  
"So Poe was married to the mob."  
  
"Not quite the mob, just a disreputable family. A wannabe."  
  
"Close enough," Theresa said. "Oh well. Que serat, sera."  
  
Luis looked down at the table. "I pissed her off."  
  
"Don't worry about it. You do it often enough that she'll forgive you."  
  
"What about you?"  
  
"Will I forgive you?"  
  
"Her. For not telling you about him and the danger if might've put the rest of you in."  
  
"If she thought we were in danger she would've told us. She didn't so we weren't. Nothing to forgive on that front," she said before smiling at Maddie. "This looks great. Pete cooking tonight?"  
  
"You come here too much to be so skinny," Maddie waved a finger at her.  
  
"I lift people into and out of ambulances for a living. I also have two children. You have seven. You know what I'm talking about."  
  
Maddie laughed. "Enjoy your meal." She looked at Luis. "Make sure this one gets taken care of."  
  
"She'll get home safe."  
  
"I always do, whether I have one of Harmony's finest watching me or not."  
  
Luis nodded. "This one likes talking tough," he told Maddie. "Don't know where she got it."  
  
"Yeah right," Theresa rolled her eyes. 


	8. Chapter 7

Ch 7  
  
Ethan was sitting in the living room waiting for Theresa and Luis. He wanted to talk to Theresa.  
  
Despite his best efforts, he couldn't hear the party he knew was happening downstairs. The soundproofing the girls had, was fairly amazing.  
  
Kay was downstairs tonight. The kids and Sheridan and Paloma were in bed, hopefully asleep. He had called home earlier to talk to Rosie. She was getting impatient for him to return.  
  
He was considering having Mia bring Rosie out to LA. She could meet her brother and sister.  
  
It was one of the things he needed to talk to Theresa about.  
  
"What are you still doing up?" Theresa asked as she and Luis entered.  
  
"Oh, just hanging out." He answered. "Your shift ended a while ago. Did you two have a chance to do some catching up?"  
  
"Yes, we did," Theresa nodded. "See you in the morning Luis."  
  
"Night," Luis said before he walked down the hall to go to sleep.  
  
"We really have to fix up the third floor guest rooms. We keep meaning to but we never get around to it."  
  
"Well, now that you have guests there might be reason to."  
  
"Right. I should call Cole's brother. He's a contractor. Oh, are you gonna be here on Sunday?"  
  
"That depends, actually." Ethan said. "I want to stay, but I promised Rosie I would see her in three days. That's tomorrow. I don't want to go home without getting a chance to know you again, but I also don't want to disappoint my daughter. I have never broken a promise to her."  
  
"There are a couple of rooms that need a little more work before they're livable. You guys are more then welcome to them after they are," Theresa said.  
  
"Theresa, I'm a DA in Harmony. I can't manage plane trips every other month." He said honestly. Once, talking about money that way would have humiliated him. Now it was simply an embarrassing fact that had to be faced.  
  
"And I'm a medic for the Fire Department of L.A. I like my job. The only paramedics in Harmony are volunteer. That's not what I'm looking for."  
  
"I'm not asking you to go back there." Ethan said. "I know you're happy here."  
  
"But Rosemary's family is in Harmony. I'd never ask you to take her away from-" Theresa stopped. "Okay, I can't finish that sentence because I have a hysterical urge to laugh."  
  
Ethan swallowed. "And since you didn't say it, I have to repress my natural response to any statement of that kind."  
  
"Would you be okay with living with four women and six children?"  
  
He shrugged. "I'm not suggesting that either one of us has to completely change her or his lifestyle. I just want to get to know my children, and for my daughter to meet her siblings."  
  
"How do you feel about weddings?"  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Toni, she's my partner, her step nephew's getting married on Sunday. We're all invited. If Rosie can be here by then, she's more then welcome to come too."  
  
"She's four. She couldn't fly alone."  
  
"What are you suggesting?"  
  
"Pilar doesn't have to keep the secret anymore. She could come here with Rosie and Chloe."  
  
"I'll have to talk to Poe about that. She still has some issues where Mama's concerned."  
  
"Right."  
  
"And then there's Beth, who I assume is watching Chloe while Luis is here."  
  
"What didn't Hank tell you about Beth?"  
  
"Oh you mean the part where she went temporarily insane and killed her mother? I know about that."  
  
"What about the part where she was committed to the same institution as my wife and revealed that she's a criminal arsonist when she tried to burn it to the ground?"  
  
"He left that out."  
  
"And the part where she was convicted of attempted homicide and arson and sentenced to a mental institution for the criminally insane?"  
  
"I thought that Luis and Beth were sharing custody."  
  
"No."  
  
"Oh boy. So Mama's got Chloe?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Theresa bit her lip. "I'm gonna have to talk to Poe, Sheridan, and Kay about this cause if Mama knows chances are that Grace is going to find out before Sam tells her."  
  
"We'll see. Your mother can be quite close-mouthed."  
  
"And close minded. I'll call Cole and get his brother's number in the morning. Don't worry Cole's brother didn't do time. But, while we're on the subject. Toni's step-nephew's father, her step-brother, is in jail."  
  
"Why did you hire Cole?"  
  
"Poe did. She said he had honest eyes. She decided to trust him."  
  
"That was enough for you?"  
  
"She doesn't trust easily."  
  
"True enough I guess," Ethan nodded. "But do you know anyone who doesn't have a family member who's done time?"  
  
"I resent that remark. I happen to know whole families without ex-cons."  
  
"Please name one."  
  
"Yours," she smiled smugly. "Anyway, about the wedding? I can't promise a fight but there will be beer."  
  
"I'll be there, but my family doesn't count. I'm not sure about Hank, and you can never be sure about my mother."  
  
"Ivy Winthrop Crane in prison?" Theresa started to laugh. "You're kidding right?"  
  
"She went a little too far and crossed Alistair. He let Sam lock her up for the night for a speeding ticket or something."  
  
"She was driving? She can't even walk!"  
  
"She got that scooter going pretty good."  
  
"Okay then, the Cranes. Alistair may have pulled strings to put Ivy iin/i jail but he'd never let a real Crane get put into jail."  
  
"They sent you to jail."  
  
"I said real Crane."  
  
"You mean blood."  
  
"Exactly. Alistair would pull every trick he could, every rabbit out of every hat he owned to keep a full-blooded Crane, like say Fox, out of jail."  
  
"Wanna make a bet?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Fox got caught dealing at a boarding school. Alistair saved him once, but said that was it. Next time it happened, the birth certificate burned and his name was no longer to be mentioned."  
  
"That's horrible! I can't believe you let that happen."  
  
"I visit him three or four times a year, as much as I can. I sometimes feel like I spend half my life visiting loved ones in institutions."  
  
Theresa busted up laughing. As she calmed down she started apologizing, "I- I'm sorry but that was too good a line not to laugh at. Okay. I'm okay now."  
  
"It's okay. It is funny when it's not your relatives."  
  
"I should write to Fox. I can't believe he was dealing drugs. How long did he get?"  
  
"Three years. He'll be out in four months if parole goes okay."  
  
"Are you his lawyer?"  
  
Ethan shook his head. "I'm a DA, not allowed to switch sides."  
  
"Right," Theresa nodded and then did a double take. "You didn't, did you?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Did you prosecute him?"  
  
"Conflict of interest. I was very politely told that I was to go no where near the case."  
  
"How'd you feel about it?"  
  
"In a way I was glad. The case was rock solid, there was no way I could've softened the blow." Ethan grimaced. "But there are still some times I wish I could've tried."  
  
"I know what you mean. There was this accident once--this woman had been so badly injured that they thought she would bleed to death. I just kept trying and trying. I honestly didn't think she would make it, but I couldn't not try."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"She went through fourteen months of therapy and rehab and became a secretary."  
  
Ethan sat down and invited Theresa to do the same. She did and leaned back against the couch. They were barely touching but the feeling of each other's warmth was there. "I think we both have that gene."  
  
"The 'save the world' gene Hank keeps telling me that most of my family and yours got?"  
  
"Yeah," Ethan nodded.  
  
"I think so too. Cause if I remember my biology it's connected with the 'I'll do anything to help my family and friends' gene. Poe and Kay got the 'take a chance' gene. It goes with the 'I can't mind my own business' gene."  
  
"No, that's in the water." Ethan said. "Cause God knows every person in that town has it. And you got the take a chance gene too." He looked at her and smiled.  
  
"Thanks," Theresa smiled.  
  
"If I bring Rosie out here, I want to be able to tell her who she's meeting." He said, feeling awkward and awful about breaking the moment of tranquility. It was so nice to talk to Theresa without yelling.  
  
"Like I said before, I have to talk to Poe, Kay, and Sheridan. They have a say in this too. Mama didn't refuse to see just us. She refused the offer to see her grandchildren. And you might want to talk to Sam about this before you book any flights."  
  
"I know." He said. "In the morning, I guess."  
  
She leaned a little closer. "What else did Hank censor in his news from home?"  
  
"In the morning. We'll have breakfast. I bet you know every great greasy spoon in a five block radius."  
  
"Ten," Theresa smiled.  
  
HR  
  
Paloma yawned as she woke up. Theresa's side of bed was empty except for a note.  
  
IHey little sis, I am having breakfast with my ex. Color me crazy when I get home but I think I'm starting to unlock that door. Don't worry it's just the dead bolt so far. I still have all those other locks to do and the keys to find. Family pow-wow on the third floor when I get back. Later. -T/i  
  
Paloma sighed, and ran a hand through her hair. She had never gotten to know Ethan. She didn't know if he were a good person or not. Her impressions of him had been colored by Theresa's rather biased narratives. But her sister had two children with the man. There had to be something there. Paloma got out of bed and changed into her favorite skirt and blouse set. It was her turn to bring the kids to school. Hank would go with her, and they would have a chance to talk. He would probably have a more balanced view of Ethan and Theresa's relationship.  
  
"Mommy?" Emma's little head poked into the room. "Oh, hi Aunt Poe."  
  
"Hey Em. What's up?"  
  
"I wanted Mommy to braid my hair."  
  
"Mommy went out early this morning. I can do it if you want."  
  
"Okay," she turned around.  
  
Paloma quickly braided her niece's dark hair and kissed the top of her head. "Ready?"  
  
"Ready. You braid good Aunt Poe. It's too bad you don't have a little girl."  
  
"You just want to tip the balance of little girls in this house." Paloma kissed Emma's head. "Where are your cousins and brother?"  
  
"Aunt Sheridan is making Thomas and Livvie get dressed and ready. Aunt Kay is making breakfast. Alex is eating and Ethan won't get up."  
  
Paloma blinked. It was very rare that she slept later than the rest of the family. "I'll take care of him. Where's Hank?"  
  
"I don't know." Emma shrugged.  
  
"Okay. You go get your shoes on, okay? I am going to go get your brother and then I'm gonna find Hank while you have breakfast. Then we're gonna pile you all in the car and take ya to school. Okay?"  
  
Emma skipped out of the room. Paloma shook her head and tried to plan for the rest of the day.  
  
She went into the room the boys were sharing and shook Ethan awake.  
  
"Aunt Poe, I don't wanna get up."  
  
"Too bad. Up or I'm getting Aunt Sheridan in here with a bucket of ice water. You remember the last time right?"  
  
"Mommy will get mad."  
  
"Mommy's not home right now so she can't get mad. And she would be madder if she knew you wouldn't get up."  
  
He made a face. Paloma laughed and pulled off the covers. He was a great kid most of the time, but morning was not one of those times. Ethan grumbled as he got out of bed. Paloma handed him a pair of jeans and a t- shirt and left.  
  
"Hey Aunt Poe," Thomas said from the table. He, Livvie, Alex, and Emma were eating.  
  
"Hi guys."  
  
"Ethan up?" Kay asked.  
  
"Finally. He's getting dressed."  
  
"You are a miracle worker," Sheridan handed her a cup of coffee.  
  
"Thanks. Is Hank around?"  
  
"He and Luis are making use of the pool table downstairs in the back room."  
  
Paloma sighed. "How did it go with your father yesterday?"  
  
"I don't wanna talk about it."  
  
"Well Theresa wants to talk to us when she gets back from having breakfast."  
  
"She's having breakfast? With who?" Sheridan asked.  
  
"Kay's brother," Paloma said.  
  
"Livvie, don't throw cheerios at Thomas. I don't care what he said."  
  
Olivia made a face but she obeyed.  
  
"And Thomas, don't tease your cousin," Sheridan took up her part with her son.  
  
"Did you talk to Luis yet?" Paloma asked, as she removed a heated cup of water from the microwave and stirred in hot chocolate mix.  
  
"Mama, I want hot chocolate too." Alex asked.  
  
"Not in the morning, mijo." She looked at him. "I shouldn't even have chocolate in the morning."  
  
"Mama bad," Alex said.  
  
"Very," Paloma nodded. "You almost ready to go?"  
  
Alex nodded.  
  
"You guys? We leave in five minutes. Why don't you take the elevator down and find Hank? Tell him to go pull the car around."  
  
Paloma dumped the chocolate into a car cup. "I have two meetings with distributors and one with the liquor license board. Can you get the kids today, or should I ask Hank?"  
  
"I have class this afternoon. Sheridan?"  
  
"It's pre-natal day down at the clinic. You better ask Hank. I might be there till the sun comes up tomorrow."  
  
"Why don't you take some help?" Kay asked.  
  
"Oh yeah, there's an idea. Ask Luis, who I have barely said two words to, to help me deal with hormonal women all day."  
  
"Ethan Martin Soltini-McKay, you better get moving now!" Paloma called.  
  
Ethan emerged from the room, fully dressed. Kay handed Paloma a yogurt to give him in the car.  
  
"You could ask Luis to pick up the kids and Hank to help at the clinic." Kay problem solved.  
  
Paloma shook her head. "I don't think so. He and Cole are coming to back me up at one of the distributor meetings." One of her distributor meeting was a fiction. They were going over her statement to verify it to solidify it as the case against her in-laws proceeded to trial.  
  
"Jesus, Poe. What kind of distribution meeting is it when you need both of them?" Kay demanded in a hiss.  
  
"You don't ask me how the club gets supplied with napkins, I don't ask about your histories with my brothers." Paloma said defensively.  
  
"You need Cole and Hank to get napkins?" Sheridan demanded.  
  
"Aunt Poe, Uncle Hank says we'll be late!" Thomas yelled up the stairs.  
  
"See you both later. If it comes down to it, get Trisha to pick up the kids. She's on the available list for the day, right?"  
  
"Yeah. I better go too," Sheridan put her cup in the dishwasher. "Bye Kay."  
  
"Bye," Kay called as she loaded the dishwasher. She finished cleaning the kitchen and then went to take a shower.  
  
HR  
  
"Girls, we have some talking to do." Theresa began. The kids were asleep. Ethan was at the airport. He had decided that Chad could bring Rosie, and if it was decided Pilar could later bring Chloe. Ethan had said he would see Rosie that day, and he couldn't break that promise. In a weird way, Theresa respected it.  
  
"I get the feeling that I'm not going to like this," Paloma took a seat.  
  
When the girls had started to renovate the warehouse to make it livable they'd gotten too much furniture. What they didn't want was put on the third floor till it could be distributed into finished rooms.  
  
"You might not. Ethan's sent for Rosie and Chad's bringing her. But there's the issue of Chloe."  
  
"She's a child, Theresa, not an issue." Sheridan said firmly.  
  
"Well that's true. But Rosie's out here. That means that people in Harmony are going to start figuring out that Ethan, Sam, Miguel, and Luis are out here for a reason."  
  
"And that they're not in a hurry to go back," Kay finished.  
  
"You mean that Luis is going to want to bring his daughter out here, but he might want his mother to be the bringer."  
  
"And with Pilar coming here with Chloe, my mom is going to figure something is up and get mad at Dad for not telling her sooner." Kay sighed. "Can we move to Hawaii?"  
  
"Your certification is for California. The clinic is here. My husband didn't own a warehouse in Hawaii."  
  
"She's gonna come out here. Her and Jess and Noah, I wouldn't mind seeing Noah but that's beside the point. I would however mind seeing my mother and my sister. I don't want them here. I don't want them in this house."  
  
Sheridan's face was a bit tight. "And no one keeps secrets for long, so Julian would be down here in ten minutes."  
  
"Oh no, that's where I draw the line. Julian Crane steps one foot inside this house and I will be the one with the gun," Theresa said.  
  
"Calm down." Paloma said firmly. "No one is going to come here uninvited. Kay, you have issues with your mother. I respect that trust me. But I think there must be some way to manage this."  
  
Theresa sighed. "She's right."  
  
"Quiet you," Kay muttered jokingly and the tension broke.  
  
"I don't want Julian here either Poe," Sheridan said quietly. "He's not a member of my family."  
  
"No one wants him here Sheridan," Kay assured her. She gave the blonde a squeeze around the shoulders. She didn't show it but Kay was a little nervous. Julian Crane, hell iany/i Crane, could shoot Sheridan's mental health to hell all over again. It would be a lot tougher this time. Thomas was old enough to ask about his mommy this time.  
  
"Now, for starters, I talked to Cole about extra security around here. If Sam and Luis and Miguel and Ethan got in using our side door, so could someone else."  
  
"This is our home. I don't want to be paranoid." Sheridan said.  
  
"Neither do I Sheridan. I don't want to be blindsided again. The first night the guys were in the club all they did was make a reservation. From now on, I think one of us should handle it. We'd recognize voices."  
  
"Too much volume. I like having a life." Paloma said.  
  
The others blinked. They hadn't expected a response like that.  
  
"Cole made a few recommendations." She said. "So did Hank."  
  
"What does my uncle know about building security?" Kay demanded.  
  
"He isn't really such a drifter." She said. "But he really has to explain it. I trust him, I trust Cole. We put up cameras at every door. We're going to start keeping inventory of every uniform for every position here. On big nights, we'll hire extra security."  
  
"But of course, they could just ring the doorbell," Sheridan said.  
  
"Kids can't answer the door, they know that. I talked to the school. If they see anyone, ianyone/i who doesn't belong or that they don't know, they will call the police right away."  
  
"Julian wouldn't kidnap Thomas."  
  
"No, but Alistair might," Theresa pointed out. "He'd do anything to get a potential Crane heir back in his control cause Fox is now among the undesirables."  
  
"No!" Sheridan said.  
  
"He's been in jail for dealing drugs for more than two years." Theresa said. "Ethan told me."  
  
"It doesn't matter. Amanda married one step below the crown prince of a Seattle conglomerate." Paloma said.  
  
"You knew?" Theresa demanded.  
  
"Hank told me. I didn't want you to worry."  
  
"What gives you the right to make those decisions?" Kay asked. "You've kept more secrets than any of us."  
  
"We're not turning on each other here. There are already some measures in place."  
  
"What? Why?"  
  
"Does it matter?" Theresa said. "We have decisions to make."  
  
"Because, I don't want things to happen and us not to be ready for them," Paloma said again. "I don't want to be caught unaware. I think we're done here."  
  
"We haven't decided anything about Mama or Chloe or Grace." Theresa informed her little sister firmly. "You don't get to run away from us every time a talk gets tense."  
  
"Look, Mama can choose to come out and see us this time. Or she can do what she did last time and choose not to see us. It's her call. I refuse to beg her."  
  
"What about you, Kay? Are you going to let your father tell your mother where you are?" Sheridan prompted.  
  
Kay bit her lip and looked down. "I would like to see Noah again. I miss my big brother. I know the only way I am going to see him is if I see Mom. So I guess it's time to make a call."  
  
Sheridan squeezed her hand. "Just think how you felt when Livvie went home with her friend from preschool without telling you, and how it felt to get the call that she was okay."  
  
Kay bumped shoulders with Sheridan. "You're being sneaky. Have you even thought of calling Julian?"  
  
"He wouldn't give a damn as long as I'm not screwing things up for him." Sheridan shrugged. "The difference is, as much as your mom screwed up, she cared."  
  
"I know," Kay nodded. She sighed. "I'm tired."  
  
"It has been that kind of week, hasn't it?" Paloma asked.  
  
"How'd the napkin meeting go?" Kay smirked.  
  
"Don't you want to take over the club and let me deal with other people's children all day?"  
  
"No," Kay laughed. "I wanna go to sleep."  
  
"Me too. Oh hey, did you all get the message about the wedding?"  
  
"Yes and I thought Mickey was still in San Quentin," Sheridan said as they all went back downstairs.  
  
"That's big Mickey, this is little Mickey."  
  
"Well, is there gonna be a fight like at Toni's niece's communion party?" Kay asked.  
  
"There'll be beer," Theresa laughed.  
  
"Should we leave the kids here so they don't get corrupted?"  
  
"Nah, they can play with all the kids in Toni's family. I talked to Maddie and she said we could also bring dates."  
  
"No." Kay said, almost immediately. "Uh uh."  
  
"I'm not saying you should bring Miguel," Theresa rolled her eyes. "But I do plan to bring Ethan with me."  
  
"I'll arm wrestle you for Hank." Sheridan laughingly offered Paloma.  
  
"I'm not using my brother as a date, so you are stuck with either Luis or Miguel. If you really wanna get daring, take Sam."  
  
"Ew." Kay made a face. "I don't want to be the only dateless wonder."  
  
"I'll take Miguel and you can take Luis," Sheridan said.  
  
"Oh great. You can rob the cradle and Luis can take the girl who once threw up all over him," Kay kidded.  
  
"You threw up on Luis?" Paloma asked.  
  
"I had the flu and we were at his and Hank's graduation from high school."  
  
Theresa laughed. "You won't have the flu this time."  
  
"Did you get any pictures?" Paloma asked.  
  
"You are a sick person," Kay said. "No, Mom wouldn't let them be put out for anyone to see. She burned them all."  
  
"Never say she never did anything for you. I'm keeping ever embarrassing photo of Emma for later on in life."  
  
"I'm doing the same with Thomas," Sheridan admitted.  
  
"C'mon, we have a long day tomorrow and Theresa has the worst. She has to tell her kids that Ethan is their father, introduce them to Rosie and then desert Ethan to go to work."  
  
"Thanks for reminding me."  
  
"Anytime," Kay smiled brightly. 


	9. Chapter 8

Ch 8  
  
Paloma was the first one awake the next morning. It was five-thirty when she tiptoed out of the room she and Theresa were sharing. She loved having a little bit of quiet time in the morning to just sip some tea or coffee and read the newspaper.  
  
But it looked like she wasn't the only one who was awake.  
  
"Hi Chad," she greeted. "Still on East Coast time?"  
  
He yawned. "Something like that."  
  
"Couldn't find a bed?"  
  
"Not that there's anything wrong with a sleeping bag on Ethan and Sam's floor, but I decided to come out here."  
  
"Feel free to use the couch."  
  
"Thanks, I'll remember that."  
  
"We have a crew coming in today to finish the rooms upstairs. You should have better accommodations soon," she assured him. "Is the coffee fresh?"  
  
"Not even ten minutes old."  
  
"Great," Paloma poured herself a cup and then sat down. She took the business section of the L.A. Times and opened it up.  
  
He watched her for a minute. "Ok, I'll bite. Why are you up this early?"  
  
"I like having a little quiet time before the day gets going. I'll take a nap later probably."  
  
Chad nodded. "So, everyone seems pretty settled on this whole thing."  
  
"What whole thing?"  
  
"The part where you four took off on your families only to be found out six years later."  
  
"We can breathe here without asking permission." Paloma offered.  
  
"That's true," Chad nodded. "It's a good place to live. Of course it isn't the safest neighborhood and Theresa doesn't have the safest job but you're making it work."  
  
"She's making the world safer for others." Paloma said. "And the neighborhood doesn't scare me."  
  
"It should, little girl."  
  
"Everyone knows who owns this building." She said. "We've survived five years as a working club, not counting the one we lost to set up."  
  
"What about the local schools? They can't be that good."  
  
"The local Catholic school is just fine. If that's where we have to send them to protect them against gangs then we will."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Chad, I know you grew up here, and I know you know this area, but I've looked at the schools. The Catholic one down the street has an amazing pastor who's doing so much with the community and cleaning it up. Cole even believes in him--you remember Cole?"  
  
"Looks like he's made of brick."  
  
"Yes. And at the first sign of real trouble, well, I'm not married to this building. My business will stay here, but if it becomes necessary, we can move."  
  
"And how do your brothers, a cop and a future cop, feel about your choice in home locations?"  
  
"You ask a lot of questions."  
  
"How do they feel?"  
  
"They know by now how stubborn we can be."  
  
"They haven't said anything yet have they?"  
  
"No. I get the feeling they're waiting for the right moment to tell us we're being stupid by living above a nightclub when we could be living in a nice normal house in a nice neighborhood."  
  
"And Ethan? The boy worried about her and all of you for six years."  
  
"Ethan seems like a nice guy. I hope he knows that if he hurts my sister again he's in for a world of pain he can't begin to imagine."  
  
Chad snorted. "I'd worry more about her hurting him."  
  
"Theresa's willing to work with him. She's just not looking to go back to Harmony."  
  
"He's not really in love with the place either. It stole plenty of people and things from him."  
  
"So why has he stayed there so long?"  
  
"In case she came back."  
  
Paloma settled back into a corner of the couch.  
  
"L.A. could always use another attorney," Paloma thought out loud.  
  
"Oh no, you let them figure it out." Chad ordered.  
  
"I will," Paloma said. "The Southwest Station could always use a few more cops."  
  
"You think putting all four of you Lopez-Fitzgeralds under the same roof is a good idea?" Chad whistled. "You were young when you went away."  
  
"They could live upstairs. The staircase comes down in the kitchen."  
  
Chad looked at her. "I know how it feels to want to make up for lost time." He said. "My childhood was lonely too. But at this point, you're adults."  
  
"Adults who know how nice it can be to have a family close by."  
  
"It's your business, I guess." He said. "So where does Hank stay when he's here?"  
  
"The couch," Paloma nodded.  
  
"Where is he now?" Chad yawned again.  
  
"Last night he took the red eye up to Seattle. He'll be back this afternoon."  
  
Chad nodded. "You hungry?"  
  
"Yeah. C'mon I'll make eggs."  
  
"I'll just sit here."  
  
She began frying eggs as he fell asleep.  
  
HR  
  
"Daddy?" Rosemary patted her dad's face.  
  
He sat up. "I'm awake." He mumbled.  
  
"You said to wait till you're awake to go out but I'm hungry."  
  
Ethan sniffed the air. "And you smelled eggs right?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
"What time is it?" He grabbed the watch, and then looked at Sam, who was still asleep. "Honey, it's six o'clock. Let's go out so we don't wake up Grandpa."  
  
"Okay," she smiled and took his hand as she pulled him out of the bedroom and towards the smell.  
  
"Good morning," he said to Paloma.  
  
"Morning." She smiled, a little guardedly.  
  
"Someone smelled eggs." He nodded at Rosie.  
  
"Oh, she did, did she? Well is that someone hungry?"  
  
"Yes please." Rosie said politely, climbing into a chair at the table.  
  
"Okay. Do you like ketchup with your eggs?"  
  
Rosie grinned and nodded enthusiastically as Ethan sighed. "I'm trying to break her of that habit."  
  
"Silly Daddy." Rosie giggled.  
  
"If it's okay with your father, in this house, if you want ketchup, you may have ketchup." Paloma said.  
  
"Yes, please," Rosie nodded.  
  
"Okay," Paloma got out the ketchup. "You know it's not as strange as your dad thinks. My nephew likes ketchup on his eggs."  
  
"Chloe likes ketchup too. She's my best friend."  
  
"What's Chloe look like?"  
  
"Like herself." Rosie said literally, looking strangely at Paloma.  
  
"Does she look like her mom or her dad?"  
  
"I don't know her mommy. She's sick, like mine."  
  
"That's enough." Ethan said fiercely.  
  
"Sorry," Paloma said. "Here you go Miss Rosie. Eggs and ketchup. Would you like some milk?"  
  
"How did you know my name?" Rosie asked with a child's wonder.  
  
"Your daddy told me. Milk?"  
  
"Apple juice."  
  
"Dad?" Paloma looked at Ethan.  
  
"Apple juice is fine," Ethan nodded. "Is there coffee?"  
  
"Chad made it. It's probably still good."  
  
"Please." He said.  
  
She poured drinks for the Winthrops, and sympathetically watched Ethan try to wake up while Rosie gobbled eggs.  
  
"So Rosie, what are you and your dad gonna do today?"  
  
"Daddy said he wants me to meet some important people and then maybe we'll all go to the zoo."  
  
"The Los Angeles zoo is very nice. Do you have a favorite animal?"  
  
"I like monkeys, but Chloe likes horses. We both like cats."  
  
"Big or little?"  
  
"Both." She said decisively.  
  
"Oh so you like lions and tigers?"  
  
"Uh-huh," Rosie nodded.  
  
"Do you like bears?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Oh my!" Paloma giggled. She saw the confused look on Rosie's face. "You've never seen the Wizard of Oz, have you?"  
  
"Grandma says the monkeys are bad and that they would scare me." Rosie hmmphed. "I don't get scared that easy."  
  
Ethan rolled his eyes over his daughter's head. "Of course not." He said.  
  
"You know, you should take her down to the beach while you guys are here and show her the Pacific Ocean."  
  
"Grandmother says that the water in California is dirtier than water in Maine. I didn't bring a bathing suit."  
  
"Your grandma says a lot."  
  
"I have four of them." Rosie said. "Daddy's mommy, Mommy's mom, Nana Grace and Chloe's abuela."  
  
"Yes but which one do you actually listen to?" Paloma asked. "Which one has the best advice?"  
  
"Chloe's abuela and Nana Grace." Rosie decided. "But the others talk louder and more."  
  
Paloma smiled, thinking, iSome things never change and it looked like Rebecca and Ivy were two of them/i.  
  
"Daddy said everyone would be here. I saw Grandpa, and I saw Chad, but who else is here?"  
  
"Chloe's papa is here," Ethan said. "So is her uncle Miguel."  
  
"What about Nana Grace?"  
  
"Nana Grace is at home with Chloe and her abuela."  
  
"Oh," a little frown covered Rosemary's face. "I missed you Daddy," she said a few moments later.  
  
"I missed you too, Princess." He said.  
  
She crawled from her chair to his lap. Ethan kissed the top of her head. He couldn't help mentally contrasting Rosie's blond halo with Emma's dark waves.  
  
"Rosie? Do you like weddings?" Paloma asked.  
  
Rosie's eyes shone. "With pretty dresses and flowers and cake?"  
  
"Yep. You see, my sister's a paramedic, and the girl she rides with, well her step-brother is getting married this weekend. Would you like to go with us?"  
  
Rosie blinked. "I don't have a pretty dress." Her lip trembled. "I don't have anything I need."  
  
Ethan hugged her. "Hey, hey, if you really want to go we'll find a dress and a bathing suit, okay?"  
  
"Ethan? Why don't I take her? I think I'm a little better at girly stuff then you. What do you think Rosie?" Paloma knelt down in front of her. "Would you like to go shopping with me? I don't get to go shopping for girly stuff that much. I have a little boy."  
  
Rosie's smile was confused, but happy. "Grandmother says I shouldn't let Daddy buy clothes for me. But I don't like what she gets either."  
  
"Which grandmother?"  
  
"Rebecca. She thinks I should go to boarding school." Rosie flinched at the idea and cuddled with her dad.  
  
Paloma met Ethan's eyes as he comforted his child. He was a good father. When Rosie was calm, and the eggs were gone, Ethan ruffled Rosie's fine blond hair. "Honey, when was the last time someone brushed your hair?"  
  
"Mia did it before Chad and I got on the plane last night," Rosie said after a moment of thought.  
  
"Chad didn't brush your hair?" Paloma asked.  
  
"I didn't ask him to."  
  
"Oh. Well, can I?" Paloma asked. "I'll be very careful."  
  
Rosie nodded. Ethan helped her hop down, and then took a sip of his coffee. As Paloma passed, Ethan nailed her with a look. "No questions that you wouldn't want me to ask your son."  
  
"Why Ethan, if I didn't know better, I'd think you didn't trust me," Paloma batted her eyes innocently.  
  
"Paloma-"  
  
"Relax. I'm just going to brush her hair and make her feel at home. You know, before you and Theresa drop the bomb and shake the very foundation of her world and Ethan and Emma's."  
  
"Gee, you sound like you disapprove of the truth."  
  
They rolled their eyes at each other and smiled briefly. A tiny connection had been made.  
  
HR  
  
"Are you sure you wanna do this?" Sheridan asked Miguel as she straightened up the drug supply room.  
  
"Do me a favor, don't introduce doubts like that."  
  
"I am merely pointing out that Kay will be here soon and she has no idea that you are here."  
  
"I am not attacking her. I am not bothering her. I am simply helping at one of far too few free clinics on this side of LA."  
  
"That's how you see it, heck, that's even how I see it. That's not how she's going to see it and you know it."  
  
"I don't pretend to understand her perceptions." He said, lifting a box to a higher shelf.  
  
"She'll see it as an ambush. A way of you getting her to spend time around you."  
  
Miguel sighed. "I know, but she's just gonna have to deal with me sooner or later."  
  
Sheridan sighed. "Look, since I was married to Antonio, I'm still technically your sister. So here's some sisterly advice. You keep pushing her, and you're gonna push her right out the door."  
  
"Is Luis pushing you?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Have you spoken to him at all?"  
  
"Not really."  
  
"I rest my case."  
  
"There's a difference. I was married to his, your brother."  
  
"Yep. Don't you think he worries about you?"  
  
"I stopped being someone Luis had the right to worry about a long time ago. We are talking about you."  
  
"The right to worry? Love gives us the right to worry. Mama worries. I worry. Ethan worries. Hell, Sam worries about you." Miguel's face took on a stubborn aspect.  
  
Sheridan wondered how much more they'd all worry about her if they knew about the time she spent in the hospital. She didn't have the time to voice it cause they heard,  
  
"Sheridan? Hey, where are you?"  
  
"In here Kay."  
  
"You won't believe that grade I got on my presentation!" Kay called, as she entered. She saw Miguel and her face lost its enthusiasm.  
  
"What did you get?" Sheridan asked.  
  
"What?" Kay said blankly.  
  
"The presentation." Sheridan prompted gently.  
  
"Oh, uh I got an 'A'. Can I speak to you alone?" Kay asked Sheridan.  
  
"Sure. Miguel, keep on stacking those boxes for me, ok?"  
  
"I live to be a glorified stock boy." He said sarcastically.  
  
Kay and Sheridan entered an empty exam room.  
  
"What is he doing here?" Kay hissed.  
  
"Well," Sheridan began.  
  
"Five words or less," Kay interrupted.  
  
"He wanted to help out," Sheridan said.  
  
"He's here to pester me."  
  
"That too."  
  
"Sheridan! How could you do this to me? I haven't pushed Luis at you have I?"  
  
"I didn't invite him. He showed up. It's pre-natal screening tomorrow, I can't afford to turn away hand that can work."  
  
"Fine," Kay said. "But if he gets in my way, I know where the scalpels are kept and I have the key to the cabinet."  
  
"He's curious about Livvie. It's kind of cute."  
  
"Then let him go talk to Livvie. She's not shy."  
  
"He's a little scared to."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Sheridan snorted. "Just yesterday you threatened to sue him if he breathed one word about Harmony to her. You know Livvie, you know she won't just sit there and be interrogated. She'll ask him questions too."  
  
"Fine, I'll work with him. I'll answer his questions about Livvie. But that's it. I will not be any friendlier then absolutely necessary. Are we clear?"  
  
"Sure," Sheridan said.  
  
"Not you. Miguel? I know you're listening. Are we clear?"  
  
"Very," Miguel said.  
  
Sheridan sighed. "You two know each other a little too well."  
  
HR  
  
"Emma? Don't eat the bread. It's for the ducks," Theresa said.  
  
Caught, she lifted dark eyes to her mother's face. "I was just making sure it was good for them." She defended.  
  
"Okay Baby," Theresa smiled. She looked over at Ethan Martin who was on the jungle gym with a couple of friends. Emma and her friends were giggling and chasing the ducks.  
  
They were the most important people in her life. She couldn't imagine what she would do without both of them.  
  
"Theresa?"  
  
She looked up. "Hi Ethan. Hi Rosie. I like your dress."  
  
"Thank you." Rosie responded, politely. Her hand was in Ethan's. He smiled down at her. The sun glinted off their matched set of blond heads. Theresa almost winced at the feeling that she was sitting in Gwen's place. Half of a poster couple for the WASPS...no, that wasn't her, and she didn't even want it to be her anymore. The displaced feeling vanished. Rosie let go of Ethan's hand to join a game of tag that Ethan Martin and the boys on the jungle gym had climbed down to start. He sat beside her.  
  
"So, how do you wanna do this?"  
  
"What?" Theresa shook out of her thoughts.  
  
"How do you wanna tell them?" Ethan asked.  
  
"I don't know. We make quite the unmatched family don't we?"  
  
Ethan shrugged. "Each of them is perfect. I wouldn't change a single thing about any of my children."  
  
Theresa had to smile. "That is the way things should be, then."  
  
"Yeah," Ethan nodded.  
  
"She's a little tomboy isn't she?" Theresa asked looking at Rosie.  
  
"Yeah, a little. So is Chloe."  
  
"I believe it," Theresa nodded. "Emma and Livvie are girly girls. Kay and I kinda made this unspoken decision not to let them become tomboys because they were outnumbered."  
  
Ethan smiled. "They hold their own just fine, it seems to me."  
  
"They do give as good as they get." Theresa admitted.  
  
"She confuses me." He watched closely as a larger boy tagged Rosie. "She loves buying dresses, then she goes out and gets mud and grass stains on them playing tag." He winced as she fell down, but relaxed when she jumped up and chased the boy--and grinned when she grabbed Ethan Martin instead.  
  
"We could take them for a walk," Theresa said watching Emma play near the lake. "Em! Back it up!"  
  
"Do the ducks actually eat the bread or are they too scared of the kids?"  
  
"Mostly they eat the bread after the kids chase them. They're used to people," Theresa relaxed after Emma distanced herself from the pond. "So about a walk, what do you think?"  
  
"If we get them ice cream after." Ethan said.  
  
"Good idea," Theresa nodded. "If all goes well, how about some touristy stuff tomorrow? At least in the morning. Poe can take the girls shopping for dresses after I go to work."  
  
"She was talking about that."  
  
"My sister loves shopping for kid clothes. She sometimes laughs that it's nature's joke that she got a boy who only likes two shirts, one pair of pants, and one pair of shorts."  
  
"Maybe she'll have more kids."  
  
"I think she'd like that," Theresa nodded. "But only if she finds the right guy." She sighed. "You ready? I think we should do this while we have a couple of hours to answer questions."  
  
"And before bones break. Rosie! Ethan!" Ethan called, as his daughter got ready to tackle a stranger.  
  
"Emma! C'mon sweetie!"  
  
The kids protested as they moved towards their parents.  
  
"C'mon, we're going for a walk." Theresa said. "We want to talk to you."  
  
"Hi," Emma said to the little blonde girl. "I'm Emma."  
  
"I'm Rosemary. You can call me Rosie."  
  
"That's Ethan. He's my brother." Emma said.  
  
Rosie nodded seriously. Ethan grinned at Theresa. Introductions taken care of, it would seem.  
  
"That's my dad. His name is Ethan too," Rosie said.  
  
"I know. I met him. That's my mom. Her name's Theresa."  
  
As trained, Rosie held out her hand to the grownup to shake her hand. "Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Theresa."  
  
Theresa thought she could hear Ivy and Rebecca in the little girl's practiced voice.  
  
Theresa knelt down and smiled. "You don't have to call me Mrs. Theresa. You can just call me Theresa, okay?"  
  
Rosie nodded. Ethan looked at her. "Girls aren't supposed to play tag like you." He pronounced.  
  
"Ethan Martin." His mother said in a serious tone.  
  
Emma balled up her little fists. "Take that back."  
  
"Mom!" Ethan protested. "We always let girls play, but Emma and Livvie don't play-play. They get bored."  
  
"Ethan Martin Soltini-McKay, what do I, and your aunts, always tell you about boys and girls?"  
  
"That girls can do anything boys can do," he mumbled.  
  
"And?"  
  
"That sometimes girls are better at things," he said reluctantly.  
  
"Now, do you have something to say to Rosie?"  
  
Ethan Martin looked at Rosie. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.  
  
She shrugged. "I don't care."  
  
Ethan Martin rolled his eyes. That would be the day. He was used to girls saying they didn't care and then actually caring. "I'm still sorry."  
  
"How come you look like Chloe?" Rosie asked Emma.  
  
Ethan and Theresa looked at each other. Couldn't ask for a better opportunity.  
  
"Who's Chloe?" Emma looked confused.  
  
"Well," Theresa said, taking Emma's hand as they started to walk. "Chloe is your cousin."  
  
"Livvie and Thomas and Alex are our cousins."  
  
"Yes, they are," Theresa nodded. "But Chloe is your uncle Luis' daughter."  
  
"Mr. Luis?" Ethan frowned.  
  
"Luis and Miguel are my brothers."  
  
"How come we've never met them before?" Emma asked.  
  
"Well, before you were born, your aunt Poe, Kay, Sheridan, and I decided to leave the town we used to live in and come here. We wanted another life."  
  
"Why?" Ethan Martin asked.  
  
"That's hard to answer." Theresa said. "We were very unhappy there, and we didn't feel safe."  
  
Rosie slipped her hand into her father's.  
  
"But you never let us go away when we're mad."  
  
Emma tilted her face at her mother.  
  
"It's a little different when you're older Em," Theresa told her. "When you're older you have more feelings and they're confused by the ones you've always had."  
  
"Doesn't sound like fun," Ethan Martin said.  
  
"It isn't," Theresa agreed. "But that's what it means to grow up."  
  
Rosie clutched at her father's hand. He soothed her softly. Theresa looked at the man who had given her the best parts of her life.  
  
"You guys," Theresa motioned for Ethan Martin and Emma to come closer, "I need to tell you both something."  
  
"What?" Emma said snuggling against her mother's side.  
  
Theresa bent so she was eye level with them both. "It's about your dad."  
  
Ethan and Emma looked at each other, then at their mother. She had never said the word father to them.  
  
Theresa blew out a breath and tucked her hair behind her ears. She was nervous. There well frogs leaping around in her stomach. Big ones.  
  
She hadn't even been this nervous the first time she'd done an intubation on a real person.  
  
"Your father and I argued a long time ago, and I was so angry and so sad that I didn't think I could be around him anymore. I moved here, but I didn't tell him where I had gone."  
  
Emma gasped. "Mama, that's bad!" The kids of the Soltini-McKays had been drilled and trained to tell their parents where they were going since the day Livvie spontaneously left preschool with another child.  
  
"I did tell somebody. I told your Uncle Hank. But I finally told your father where we are. And he came to visit us."  
  
"Who is he?" Ethan Martin asked.  
  
"I am." Ethan answered.  
  
"But you're my daddy!" Rosie said.  
  
Ethan bent down. "I will always be your daddy. But I'm Ethan Martin and Emma's daddy too."  
  
Rosie looked at Theresa. "How come you didn't tell him?"  
  
"I was very mad at him and I didn't think I should tell him when I found out about Emma."  
  
"But you're not my mommy." Rosie said, hiding her face in Ethan's side. "She's sick, and she can't ever come home, no matter how much we wish she could."  
  
"You're right." Theresa admitted. "I'm not your mom. But if you'd like, we can be friends."  
  
Ethan looked at Rosie, "What do you say sweetie? Can you and Theresa be friends?"  
  
Rosie looked at her dad and then at Theresa. She smiled a little. "If Emma and Ethan are my dad's kids does that mean they're my sister and brother?"  
  
Theresa and Ethan nodded. Rosie smiled shyly. Ethan Martin smiled back.  
  
"Another girl?" He mock-moaned.  
  
Emma hit his shoulder and smiled at Rosie. "Good. We need more." Rosie giggled.  
  
"Emma, don't hit him. You're not his mother, it's not your job to correct him. And you need to watch it, mister." Theresa reprimanded her children.  
  
"S'alright." Rosie said. "He's just mad cause I'm faster."  
  
The three kids smiled tentatively  
  
How about some ice cream?" Ethan suggested. "You can tell me what your favorite flavors are."  
  
"Guess." Emma challenged him.  
  
"Hmm. Strawberry?"  
  
"She's allergic," Theresa told him. "So's Ethan Martin."  
  
Ethan accepted the fact with equanimity. The kids did not. "He doesn't know anything." Emma whispered to Ethan Martin. Though Theresa hadn't heard the words, she got the sense of them.  
  
"Hey, he's got a lot to learn. So do you." She reminded the kids. "Guess again." She told Ethan.  
  
"Chocolate," he said.  
  
"You're getting warmer."  
  
Ethan narrowed his eyes in thought. "Ah. Chocolate with peanut butter."  
  
Emma nodded her head. "It's Aunt Sheridan's favorite too. She's my godmother."  
  
"That does not surprise me." He told her. "She has been one of my best friends since I was younger than you."  
  
"Like Mommy." Rosie reminded him. Ivy and Rebecca had told her their version of her parents story often enough. She was a little girl in the Disney culture, and couldn't help being fascinated by love stories. She knew that her parents had met at school when they were very young, and that they had been best friends for most of their lives. There had been a problem, but they still got married and had her, and she made them both very happy, but then her mother got sick but someday she would get better and they would be a perfect family.  
  
Daddy talked to her very seriously about her grandmothers' stories. It was true, he'd told her, that he and her Mommy had been very good friends. They had understood each other, and loved each other, but after a while they should have been just friends. But they still loved each other, so they had her, and she made them happier than they had ever been, but her mommy had gotten sick, and she couldn't get better and come home. They could pray for it, but it was better if Daddy looked for friends his age.  
  
Rosie was a bit conflicted. Harmony was sometimes lonely. She'd often wanted a brother or a sister. She loved Chloe, and they had often pretended to be sisters, but having a real sister and a real brother was different. And Theresa wasn't her mom, but Daddy had said he needed friends, just like she did. "Guess me, Theresa." She prompted, her sense of fair's fair motivating her.  
  
"Hmm..." Theresa thought for a moment. "I bet you're allergic to chocolate, am I right?"  
  
"How'd you know that?"  
  
"Cause your mom was," Theresa said. "So, vanilla?"  
  
"Boring." Rosie announced. "You knew my mom?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Were you friends?"  
  
"For a while." Theresa hedged. "So, vanilla's boring. Chocolate's out. Strawberry?"  
  
Rosie laughed. "Need a hint?"  
  
"I do." Ethan said, considering Ethan Martin. "I'm guessing you're not the chocolate fan of the crowd. I'm betting you like fruit flavors."  
  
"Maybe," Ethan Martin teased.  
  
Ethan smiled at his son. "Okay. Oh I bet I know. You always used to smile when your mom fed you peaches. I bet you like peach ice cream."  
  
Ethan stared. "You never saw me when I was a baby."  
  
"I did." Ethan laughed. "You were a handsome kid."  
  
"Don't know what happened?" Ethan Martin asked.  
  
"What?"  
  
"That's what Aunt Sheridan always says to Hank, and what he always says to Thomas and Alex and me." Ethan smirked. "He always says the girls gets prettier every time." He rolled his eyes, expressing a six-year-old male's perspective on flattery.  
  
"Oh," Ethan laughed. "Nah, you're still pretty good looking. So? Is it peach?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"And you Miss Rosie, do you like butter pecan?"  
  
"I think she needs a hint." Ethan told her.  
  
"It's not really ice cream. It's sherbet." Rosie offered.  
  
"Orange." Theresa knew right away. "My brother Antonio loved orange everything. I bet that's your favorite lollypop too."  
  
"Let me guess for Emma. Grape?"  
  
"What about me?" Ethan Martin suddenly wanted to be included.  
  
"Red."  
  
"That's not a flavor." Emma laughed.  
  
"Is so," Ethan teased.  
  
Ethan Martin frowned. "So if you're my dad and you're my sister, are you gonna live with us now?"  
  
"We're still thinking about that mijo," Theresa told him. "But right now, I want some ice cream, so what do you all say?"  
  
"Yay!" The kids cheered.  
  
"I think that's a yes," Ethan said. "And Theresa?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"We do need to talk."  
  
"I know. Wait up for me?"  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
"Work," Theresa reminded him.  
  
"Right. Leave me with three kids so you can run off to ride around in a bus." He teased. He caught her arm and kissed her cheek quickly, then left to herd the hyper kids to an ice cream store.  
  
"It's an ambulance. We just call it a bus," she said after him, to cover her fluster. "Oh yeah, I'm in trouble," she said softly. 


	10. Chapter 9

Ch 9  
  
Kay was staring at the phone. The clinic was quiet for once. No gang bangers seeking treatment for their fight wounds and no new mothers panicking over what to do with their babies.  
  
She couldn't remember ever having a moment like this during the day. She had put in a few quiet night shifts like this--far too few.  
  
She sighed and grabbed her child psych book. She turned to the reading that was assigned and tried to get it down.  
  
"You want some coffee?"  
  
She shot Miguel a dirty look. "I'm trying to concentrate."  
  
"Sorry I just thought-"  
  
"No. I don't want any coffee."  
  
"Okay," Miguel turned to go back and hide in an exam room. He changed his mind. "Are we ever going to talk?"  
  
"Not if I can help it." She flipped a page.  
  
He stopped. "Look, I don't want to fight. I don't want to make you feel bad about the hell you put your family through. I want to deal with the past, so that it doesn't get repeated in the future."  
  
"Miguel, I am trying to study-" She broke off when the door opened. "Oh God," she murmured.  
  
A boy, no more then sixteen, was in front of them. To say he was badly beaten would be an extreme understatement."  
  
"Dr. Morris!"  
  
Miguel moved to support the kid. "How'd you get here?" He asked. "Did someone bring you?"  
  
"Allergies?" Kay demanded urgently.  
  
"I don't think so," he said hoarsely. "I've always been pretty good when I get to the ER."  
  
"You visit the ER a lot?" Kay asked. "You probably know my sister. She drives for Station 33. Theresa. Long dark hair?"  
  
"Who got you here?" Miguel asked, shooting Kay a look that said 'she isn't YOUR sister.' "Friend? Sister, brother, parent?"  
  
The boy coughed. "My little sister is outside. She don't want to come in."  
  
"I'll get her." Kay promised.  
  
"Right." Miguel walked the boy through the entranceway to an exam room. "Does she have any allergies to medicines?"  
  
"No." The boy said.  
  
"Good. What's your name?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Okay, we'll call you John, alright? Like John Doe? Dr. Morris?"  
  
A man with thinning blonde hair looked up and then got up. He was from a hospital a few blocks away. He worked at the clinic four or five times a week. "Name?"  
  
"John Doe," Miguel said.  
  
"Creative."  
  
"Well my parents didn't have any imagination," the boy said painfully.  
  
Between Miguel and the doctor they got him on an exam table. "Allergies?"  
  
"None."  
  
"Thanks Miguel."  
  
"Sure. I'll go talk to Kay and his sister."  
  
"She in as good a shape as you?" The doctor asked.  
  
"She's fine. I wouldn't let them touch her."  
  
Miguel quietly left the room and shut the door behind him. He found Kay and their patient's sister out front.  
  
She looked as if she were a year or two younger than the boy. There was a single bruise on her cheek. Her nose was bleeding, and she was crying. "Will Juanito be okay?" She asked.  
  
"Juanito? Is that his name?" Miguel asked. "Yeah, I think he'll be okay. What's your name?"  
  
She looked at Kay.  
  
"It's okay. You can trust him," Kay said. iI don't really but you can./i  
  
"My name's Rosa."  
  
"I'm Miguel," he said nicely.  
  
She wiped at her nose. He hastily grabbed tissues from the front desk and offered them to her. "Do you want us to check you out?" He asked gently, crouching in front of her and using a tone he had learned from doing police work in Harmony. His voice was both strong and soothing. His presence was reassuring, Kay grudgingly admitted.  
  
"I'm okay. Juanito didn't let them hit me after he got in front of me," she said, a little bit of hero worship shining in her eyes.  
  
"Well, do you want some ice for your cheek? It looks like it might start to hurt soon," Kay said kindly.  
  
She nodded.  
  
Miguel took her hand. "Can you tell me what happened?"  
  
She shook her head silently. Her eyes lowered.  
  
"That's okay." Miguel told her. "Will you tell me if it was fists or anything else? It might help the doctor."  
  
"But he's gonna be okay?" She pleaded.  
  
"Yeah, but he can be okay faster if we know how he got hurt." Miguel soothed. He moved from a crouch to sit next to her.  
  
"They didn't use any knives or anything," she said quietly. "It was just their hands and feet."  
  
"Okay. Do you want some soda?"  
  
She nodded again.  
  
"Okay, I'm gonna go get it and then I'll be back," Miguel said going to the little room where they kept the sodas. "What are you doing?" he asked Kay who was looking through a huge black binder.  
  
"Our version of a hospital's turkey file. They have people who come in for a quick fix, meaning drugs, and we have people who come in to get fixed quick. Juanito looked familiar to me. He's been in here before," she said flipping. "I just want to know what we're dealing with. Gotcha." She sighed. "Gang member."  
  
"And the sister?"  
  
"She's never been here. Usually his buddies drop him off and then take off. We ask less questions then the hospital and we're not obligated to inform the local police."  
  
"So what happens?"  
  
"We fix him up, Doc gives him a prescription, and we see him the next time someone decides to play kick the can with his body."  
  
"Sometimes I wonder about this world." He said bitterly. "That little girl isn't more than fourteen. That boy couldn't even be sixteen." He pulled a soda out of the fridge. "You've been doing it longer, so you know how I feel."  
  
"How?"  
  
"You wish you could give them a way out of here, instead of sending them back to the same pattern. You wish they would take it if you could give it."  
  
"Welcome to LA. It's not all bright lights and celebs," Kay said shutting the book. "C'mon. Let's go keep Rosa calm. I think she needs us more then she needs a cop right now so leave the badge behind, okay?"  
  
"You never leave it behind, Kay." He said. "You know that. But I'm not going to go demanding names and addresses."  
  
"Good. We have a rep in this neighborhood. A good one for being a safe place that doesn't ask questions and doesn't go calling the police every time a beating victim walks through the door. We only call a cop when we're asked."  
  
He sighed, and gave Rosa the soda. She had cleaned the last of the blood from her nose. "Gracias." She mumbled.  
  
"De nada," he said with a smile.  
  
Kay handed over the ice pack and then sat down next to her. "Rosa? Do you want me to call you and Juanito a cab? We'd pay for it. You wouldn't have to worry about it."  
  
Rosa stared. "I don't know." Her hand shook as she held the can.  
  
Kay sighed. "He's not going to walk."  
  
"Can I just sit for a little while and think?"  
  
"Sure you can," Kay assured her. "Do you want something to eat? I think we still have some macaroni and cheese. It should still be good."  
  
"I'm not hungry."  
  
"Eat something anyway." Miguel said.  
  
She looked at him.  
  
"Just saying what my mother would." He added. "She usually gives good advice."  
  
"His mother's pushy when it comes to taking care of people," Kay added to that.  
  
"Hey!"  
  
"Well she is," Kay said, giving him a 'shut up' look.  
  
Rosa smiled a little and nodded, revealing a tooth that had been broken long ago. "Sounds like mine."  
  
Miguel smiled back at her, "I bet it sounds like a lot of people's moms."  
  
"Rosa?" Juanito was standing behind Kay.  
  
She dropped the soda to go over and hug him. He was on crutches. Stitches were visible in three places on his face alone. "They said we can take a cab." She said. "Free."  
  
"We give the cab company the money when they send this back," Kay dug under the desk and handed over a cab voucher. "No strings, I promise. And it's a safe way home."  
  
Juanito nodded. "Okay. Thanks."  
  
"Sure." Kay gave it to Rosa. "Good night."  
  
"Night," Rosa said.  
  
Juanito limped toward the door. His sister hesitated. "Thanks." She said, then followed him out.  
  
"See ya next time," Kay said softly. She looked over at Miguel. "Not exactly Mayberry is it?"  
  
"No." He agreed simply. "Harmony must've been really bad if you think this is a better place for Livvie."  
  
"Livvie doesn't come here. She doesn't see this place."  
  
He picked up the dropped soda can. "Do you think they're both using?"  
  
"Him, probably. Her, I don't think so. She doesn't have that look yet."  
  
"What's worse, knowing they're throwing it all away or not being able to tell them that there's something better?"  
  
"The knowing that even if I did tell them they're too far gone to listen or care."  
  
"Is there a youth center in this neighborhood?" Miguel asked.  
  
"This isn't Harmony."  
  
"I know the kids here see things I can't imagine, but there should be a place for them to go other than the streets."  
  
"There are shelters but kids don't stay there long," Kay said. "If they go to a hospital, they call the cops or social services so more often then not this is where they end up. We fix them up, and we give them some food. Sometimes we slip in some of those information packets about programs like A.A. or N.A. We do what we can. The thing is, most of the people we get in here, Theresa ends up finding when people call to report someone they think is dead in the park or on the street."  
  
"I'll talk to Luis and Paloma. She seems to be the real estate expert, and he's single handedly run the Harmony Youth Center for almost ten years. Theresa might know something about legalities."  
  
"Stop talking like you're staying."  
  
"Maybe I am," Miguel said. "Harmony's nice but Livvie's here."  
  
"She doesn't even know you're her dad yet and then there's the little phone call I have to make to Mom tomorrow morning to tell her where I am and invite her out here with Pilar and Chloe."  
  
"Thank God you're making the call."  
  
"Well, I miss my brother and I'd like to see him."  
  
"Not Jess?"  
  
"How blind were you?"  
  
"She cried for a week straight after you left. She almost completely blamed herself for stealing Reese." He raised a brow at her. "Even though she knew you didn't want him."  
  
"Great. Well, yeah, I guess I'd like to see Jessie. But if my mother brings Sister Pure and Good, I am not letting any of them into the house."  
  
Miguel rolled his eyes. "You don't have to worry. Simone and Charity both cloistered themselves. They only come out of the convent for funerals."  
  
"There's something I never saw coming although I can't say I blame her. At least Whitney was able to move on. Of course she was a little bit more stable then Simone was emotionally."  
  
"Simone wasn't happy when you left either. She thought it was her fault for turning her back on you. We all took it hard, but at first I was the only one who knew that it was my fault."  
  
She ignored his statement about himself. "I'll call her and let her know that I'm okay and that it was never her fault. It wasn't anybody's fault. I wanted out."  
  
"No phones. A letter might get there, though."  
  
"That's probably better," Kay nodded. She checked the clock. "We can start closing up. Ah, night Doc," she said as the doctor walked past. "Thanks."  
  
Dr. Morris waved.  
  
"I'm gonna turn off the lights. Would you turn on the machine and put the lock box away in the office?" Kay asked.  
  
"I'll handle it." He promised. "And for the record, I think a youth center is a good idea."  
  
"Yeah, I do too. I just don't know if a cop in training would be someone the youths around here would be able to trust. Hank's more the ne'er-do- well type. Kids might trust him."  
  
"Think he'll stick around anywhere long enough?"  
  
"You are blind," Kay chuckled.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Have you not seen the way he looks at your baby sister?"  
  
"What does that mean?" Miguel asked as he followed her down the street.  
  
Kay just laughed. "C'mon, I brought my car tonight. Get in."  
  
"No, really?"  
  
"You always were prettier than you are smart."  
  
"Hey!"  
  
Kay just rolled her eyes. Once she was in the car, she picked up her cell and dialed.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hey T, you off?"  
  
"We just finished stocking the rig for the next shift," Theresa's voice said.  
  
"Did you drive in?"  
  
"No."  
  
"I'll be there in ten okay? We just closed up the clinic."  
  
"I'll be waiting here. Thanks."  
  
"Sure," Kay hung up. "There's a building across from the fire station. It's been empty for years. It used to be a YMCA."  
  
"Why did it close?"  
  
"Lack of funding, the decline of the neighborhood, and a bad element wanted to claim it as turf."  
  
Miguel smiled grimly. "Seems to me that even if kids around here would trust Hank more, they need to see that not every cop in the world is a bad guy."  
  
"If you're interested, and serious about staying, the Southwest Station is down the road from Station 33."  
  
"I'll go by and see about hiring policies."  
  
"You do that," Kay nodded. She pulled to a stop in front of Theresa's fire station. "Open your window."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Cause I wanna say hi," she said.  
  
Miguel opened his window and Kay waved to a guy in front of the station. "Hey Vin. How's it going?"  
  
"Kay." He grinned. "How are you, baby?"  
  
"I'm good. Speaking of babies, how's your new nephew?"  
  
"Six pounds of lungs. I live two apartments away and I can hear him yelling."  
  
Kay laughed and then she shot a look at Miguel, "Oh right. Uh Vinnie Tortelli, this is Miguel, Theresa's brother."  
  
"How you doing?" Vinnie asked. "You have two great looking sisters, you know that?"  
  
"Thanks," Miguel nodded. "Paramedic?"  
  
"Firefighter. But I've helped your sister haul enough backboards."  
  
"We always take advantage of the muscle around here," Theresa said. "Trying to make time with Kay again Vin?"  
  
"Hey, don't tip her off." He teased. "I'm working on being subtle."  
  
"Babe, you should really reacquaint yourself with the meaning of subtle," Theresa said. "By the way, Tiny's looking for you. Something about you owing him money."  
  
"Tiny?" Miguel whispered to Kay.  
  
"Firefighter. Looks like a small truck."  
  
"One of those examples of the humor of civil servants everywhere?"  
  
"Exactly," Kay nodded. "C'mon T, I'm sure you've got someone waiting on you at home and I'm just tired."  
  
"Long day?" Theresa asked sympathetically, as she climbed in the back seat.  
  
"Yeah, something like that. I got an 'A' on my presentation though."  
  
"You go girl," Theresa smiled. "How are you adjusting to La-La Land Miguel?"  
  
"It's something else." He said simply.  
  
"He wants to open a Youth Center. I told him about the old Y," Kay said.  
  
"Really? That might work and if you want help, you'd have a lot of free labor."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah. The firehouse drinks for free at the club so if we need something they're first on our list. Some of them are pretty handy with hammers."  
  
"How often do you call on their muscle?"  
  
"Not often. I think the last time was when the club needed some repairs after the last little earthquake."  
  
"And that was really Paloma anyway. She smiles and talks quickly and they blink and look down and they're holding hammers."  
  
Theresa and Miguel laughed. 


	11. Chapter 10

Ch 10  
  
"We need to talk." Luis looked in the mirror and rehearsed what he could say to Sheridan.  
  
"No, that won't work," Hank said. He was reading a magazine. "If you say 'we need to talk', you're going to put her on the defensive."  
  
"Do you have time to talk?"  
  
"That's better," Hank said, nodding.  
  
Luis glanced at his friend. "You're the expert, what do I say after that that won't make her run for the hills?"  
  
Hank thought for a moment. "Make it clear that you're not looking to make her go back to Harmony. That's pretty much the sticking point with the girls around here."  
  
"You ever get thrown out of here?"  
  
"I talk to Paloma. Her temper is the longest about going back there. And she gives warnings before she loses her temper. Theresa, Sheridan and Kay don't."  
  
"Speaking of Kay, I think she called Grace, so be ready for the fallout."  
  
Hank made a face. "I should've stayed in Seattle for an extra day."  
  
"There's no escaping now. Hey, where's that door in the kitchen go?"  
  
"Which one?"  
  
"The one on the right side of the refrigerator."  
  
"The gym."  
  
"They put in a gym?"  
  
"It's basically a punching bag, a mat and free weights. It's for Kay and Theresa to have something to beat up."  
  
"They need something to beat up a lot?"  
  
"Kay does it mainly to stay in shape and Theresa does it to work off the tension that comes with her job. Beating on the punching bag is great therapy."  
  
"Sheridan?"  
  
"She has these Tae Bo videos or something. I don't keep track too closely."  
  
"And Poe?"  
  
"T'ai Chi."  
  
"What?"  
  
"She does T'ai Chi."  
  
"You knew that right away."  
  
"Oh, don't do this." Hank groaned.  
  
"Hank, if I don't have the right to razz you about my baby sister, you don't get to critique my mirror talks."  
  
"I am not critiquing your mirror talks. I am giving you advice so that Sheridan doesn't go screaming into the night."  
  
"And I get to talk to you about Poe cause she's my little sister and you're a lot older then she is."  
  
"She's a big girl now." Hank said.  
  
"Still the baby of the family. Consider yourself lucky that you're not having this conversation with Antonio. He wouldn't be as understanding as I am."  
  
Hank rolled his eyes. "Go ahead. I'll ignore you anyway."  
  
"Look, all I'm saying is to be careful. I get the feeling she didn't have the easiest time with her first husband."  
  
"He was an asshole." Hank affirmed.  
  
"You meet him or hear about him?"  
  
"I met him." Hank said. "Right before I came home from drifting over Europe and met Sheridan."  
  
"Paloma was fifteen then." Luis said.  
  
"They weren't married." Hank said. "Probably hadn't even met."  
  
"Are you telling me she got married and had Alex by the time she was twenty?"  
  
Hank shrugged.  
  
"You don't know or won't say?"  
  
"What do you think?" Hank asked pointedly.  
  
"Hank, it's my sister."  
  
"And it's her place to tell you, not mine. I'm not saying anything so give it up, okay?"  
  
"But you'll be careful with her?"  
  
"You're acting like you think I'm going to jump her."  
  
If looks could kill, Hank would've been incinerated on the spot.  
  
"I will always be careful with her." Hank finally conceded.  
  
"Good. Now, about a job?"  
  
"Oh, jeez, go back to making faces at yourself in the mirror."  
  
HR  
  
Ethan frowned when he heard the repetitive thumping of something coming from the kitchen. He walked in and stopped.  
  
The kitchen was empty. Then he saw the light under the door. He opened it and poked his head in.  
  
There was Theresa beating up a punching bag.  
  
He approached her quietly, thinking it best not to spook her. Then he put his hand on her shoulder.  
  
The next thing he knew he was on his back looking up at Theresa's concerned face.  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
"You have a lot of anger issues." Ethan mumbled.  
  
"Take my advice, never sneak up on someone who is beating up a punching bag," Theresa pulled him into a sitting position. "I don't think you'll have a bruise."  
  
"That would be so hard to explain to the kids." He laughed.  
  
She grinned in relief. "You grew a sense of humor!"  
  
"Defense mechanism." He said, mock-seriously. "If I hadn't learned to laugh at my mother, Rebecca and Julian I would've gone out of my mind."  
  
Theresa smiled as she made herself comfortable on the floor next to him. "Are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah. My jaw is sore but I'm okay," Ethan groaned as he moved his jaw. "Nice right cross."  
  
"By product of surviving three brothers."  
  
"Right. So, why are you in here?"  
  
"It helps me think. I had a lot of that to do tonight."  
  
"I know exactly what you mean."  
  
Theresa tucked a strand of sweaty hair behind her ear. "I've been thinking about us. Our situation."  
  
He nodded.  
  
"It wouldn't be fair to ask you to move here and give up everything you and Rosie have in Harmony. But by the same respect, it wouldn't be fair of you or anyone to ask me to take Ethan and Emma and move back to Harmony."  
  
"Agreed."  
  
She nodded. "Chicago."  
  
"What?" He made an amused sound of disbelief.  
  
"It's not a small town so I could still be a paramedic, you could make a great living as a lawyer, and it would be new for us both."  
  
"I don't want to uproot everybody." He said.  
  
Theresa gently interlaced their fingers. "Then what do you want?"  
  
He looked into her eyes. "I want to come here. I want to help fix the third floor of this building. I want our children to grow up together. I want to laugh with you and kiss you and wake up with you every morning. Is that moving too fast?"  
  
"No. But are you sure you want to move out here? Chicago is a lot closer to Harmony and Gwen might get better one of these days. Rosie has the right to be able to see her mother."  
  
"Gwen isn't going to get better." Ethan told her. "I went through all the phases. I borrowed money, I used family names, I brought a doctor in from Switzerland. She is gone and she can't come back. And if I'm going to uproot Rosie anyway, I don't have to uproot Emma and Ethan and you. We have family here. You have friends here. We can build something here. I don't want Chicago."  
  
"Any objections to living with my sister, her son, your sister, her daughter, Sheridan, and Thomas?"  
  
"That's why I'll fix the third floor. We can make an apartment up there, so we can visit any time, but have our own space too."  
  
Theresa smiled. "You know, we can't do that till something else is done. Luis would kill us."  
  
"He'll be too busy killing Hank for laying a hand on the baby."  
  
"He hasn't touched her yet."  
  
"He's going to though. Have you seen how he watches her?"  
  
"Yeah I have. For about five years now. Your uncle is trying to set a record for pining."  
  
Ethan laughed. "Noah and Whitney almost beat him."  
  
"We should go to sleep."  
  
"That's another thing Luis would kill me for."  
  
"I said sleep, I'm tired."  
  
He kissed her forehead. "Good night."  
  
"Good night," Theresa got to her feet. She discarded her gloves and hung them on a nail. "By the way, if you're interested there's an extra set of gloves in the closet."  
  
"Tomorrow while you're out working for a living." He promised.  
  
"You should think about giving notice at the DA's office if you're serious about moving out here."  
  
"I want to look around here to see what's open."  
  
"Of course," Theresa nodded. "Don't forget to get yourself a suit and take my brothers, Hank, and Sam with you."  
  
"Why take them with me?" He asked suspiciously.  
  
"So they can get suits too," she rolled her eyes.  
  
"If you think I'll be able to get all of them to buy suits, you've gone soft. You need to send a taskmaster."  
  
"I'll send Poe. Night," Theresa sang as she left Ethan in the gym.  
  
HR  
  
Paloma slid a paper out of a file. "Will this really be it?" She asked.  
  
"A record of all the imports exports from this warehouse to the family warehouse in Barcelona and Seville and vice versa? Poe, this is the nail in the coffin." Hank promised.  
  
"You've said it before."  
  
"I mean it more."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Look at this." He passed a paper to her.  
  
She skimmed it and dropped it. "You're resigning. Oh my God. Can you do that?"  
  
"Yep and I got my bartenders license. You looking for another one?"  
  
"What?"  
  
He dropped it and jumped to another topic. "I want to take you out this weekend."  
  
She laughed. "Someone in Toni's family is getting married."  
  
"A brawl preceded by a wedding? Interesting first date."  
  
"Just interesting enough for us." She agreed.  
  
"What about something where we can eat without your sister and brothers staring and whispering? I don't want to feel like a gawky teenager."  
  
She laughed. "I never would put the word gawky in a sentence with you."  
  
"You flatter me," Hank grinned.  
  
"I'm trying to," Paloma smiled.  
  
"So about my nephew and your sister, do you think they'll make it?"  
  
"Barring an act of God, I think their shot is better than it was the first time around."  
  
"Good," Hank nodded, and then pulled Paloma into his lap. "Now about us. What are our chances?"  
  
"We don't have a first time around to judge against as a standard."  
  
"So, our chances are up to us?"  
  
"Yes," Paloma nodded.  
  
"Then we'll be fine."  
  
She grinned. "It took you a while to decide, didn't it?"  
  
"Me? Oh no, I decided that Christmas I saw you crying on the phone with your mother."  
  
"Well I decided when I was seven and you taught me how to swim."  
  
"Liar." He squeezed her.  
  
"Am not." She grinned. "I just forgot for a little while."  
  
Long enough to get married. Hank thought. Long enough to have a child. "So why did we wait this long?"  
  
"Because you were doing something very dangerous and we were both healing from the past."  
  
"Are you healed?"  
  
"I can't say that I never have nightmares about him and them, but in a weird way, I feel like I've finally woken up. You're not him. You're you, and you are a wonderful friend. And now, a bit more."  
  
"I'll be around to wake you up from nightmares from now on."  
  
Her face, which had been tilted flirtatiously crumbled as she smirked. "Hey now, let's not jump ahead. We haven't even had our first kiss."  
  
"That can be fixed."  
  
"Wh- Hmmm..." Paloma sighed as Hank kissed her. "Wow," she breathed when he pulled away. "I like that."  
  
"Worth waiting for?"  
  
"Definitely," she nodded. "Do it again?"  
  
"Sure." Hank kissed her.  
  
"Hey, Poe! Class was cancelled; want me to take your shift--" Kay had started talking all the way down the hall. By the time she was in the office, Hank and Paloma had sheepishly pulled apart. Paloma was standing by her filling cabinet adjusting her blouse slightly, as Hank pretended to read his letter of resignation and the import/export list.  
  
"What was that Kay?" Paloma asked.  
  
"Oh, I wanted to know if I should take your shift since my class was canceled."  
  
"No, that's okay. Why don't you take Olivia to the movies or something?"  
  
She looked from her uncle to her friend. "Should I take Alex too?" She asked wickedly.  
  
"No, but take Miguel. And don't look at me like that. Do this to relax. Doesn't your mother's plan land tonight?"  
  
"You had to remind me?"  
  
"Yes. Now go!"  
  
"Jeez, think you two had never had a minute alone in your office before." Kay winked and left.  
  
"Will you hate me if I strangle my niece?" Hank asked.  
  
"No, I'd help. By the way, about the bartending position? See Cole."  
  
"I was joking. With the hazard pay I accumulated I'm ready to let the 'save the world gene' I've been repressing take over."  
  
"Gonna take the police test?"  
  
"Hell no." Hank said. "Spent too much time doing cloak and dagger ops to wear a uniform everyday."  
  
"Fireman test then?"  
  
"Miguel talked to me about opening a youth center around here. Close to your clinic."  
  
"Oh that. Yeah I heard something about that too. And Theresa's across the street from that big empty Y."  
  
"So, what do you think?"  
  
"Hank Bennett, holding out a helping hand to troubled kids." She grinned. "It sounds perfect to me."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"You know most of the guys at Theresa's firehouse right?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Good. That'll make it easier to ask for free labor."  
  
"I'm counting on you."  
  
She smirked. "Oh yeah?"  
  
"Yeah. Do the dimple smile thing and say please and half of them will stampede across the street to do anything you ask."  
  
"Are you implying that I use my feminine wiles to get what I want?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Good. Because I do."  
  
"I've noticed."  
  
"I don't use them on you." She said.  
  
He snorted.  
  
"Often." She amended.  
  
Hank smiled. "Truth be told, I don't mind when you do," he said.  
  
"Glad to hear it." She smiled back.  
  
"So, Sunday?"  
  
"Yeah. I think it's Mickey."  
  
"I thought he was in jail."  
  
"That's Big Mickey. This is Little Mickey."  
  
"You're wrestling the little dude into a tux?"  
  
"A tie at least. Fate is punishing me for loving clothes by giving me a son who hates anything but jeans and t-shirts."  
  
"Should have gone into the business when Theresa chose to be a medic."  
  
"Which business?" She asked suspiciously.  
  
"Fashion," Hank said not catching the suspicious tone in her voice. "C'mon, the club opened a few minutes ago. Let's go dance."  
  
She relaxed a little. "Did you ever think--do you understand--I'm the only one who didn't pursue an outside career. I'm glad to do this, but I sometimes feel like I don't give back enough."  
  
"You give back plenty. You're the volunteer who puts in the most hours at the clinic, you balance the kids and your sisters, which is an accomplishment and don't think I don't know that you already talked to someone about buying the old Y when you heard about Miguel wanting to open a community center."  
  
"That's the least I can do." She said. "C'mon, I like that idea of dancing."  
  
"Okay, let's go."  
  
HR  
  
"Sheridan?"  
  
She looked up. "Hi Luis. What's up?"  
  
"Do you have a minute? I'd like to talk to you, if you do."  
  
"Uh, yeah okay," Sheridan nodded. "Have a seat."  
  
He did. He looked at her for a minute. She didn't give an inch.  
  
"I'm not gonna ask you to move back to Harmony. I just want to get that out in the open first."  
  
"Good to know." She snapped something in her hands. "Cause I would just-- "  
  
"Throw a drink in my face, kick me, crash into my car again?" Luis guessed, smiling a little as he anticipated her threats.  
  
"We did have an interesting beginning didn't we?" Sheridan had to smile.  
  
"That's one way to put it," Luis agreed.  
  
"So, you wanted to say..."  
  
"How are you?"  
  
"I'm okay. I really am. You don't have to worry about me Luis. Thomas and I are okay."  
  
"Are you happy?"  
  
"Yes, we are," Sheridan nodded. "Luis, if I had stayed in Harmony, I probably would've slit my wrists after a while."  
  
Luis shrugged, uncomfortable. "I did some research on your condition. I think you would've gone into a fugue until you could deal. You would've left first, only no one would've known where you were. So I guess that it was better that someone knew where you were."  
  
"We take care of each other. We're sisters," Sheridan told him.  
  
"I see that."  
  
Sheridan smiled, "I missed you. I did. I know that sounds weird but I did miss you. I wondered what you were doing and who Chloe looked like more, you or Beth. And, after Hank told us some things, I prayed you were okay and that you were able to keep your daughter safe."  
  
"He said he didn't give you the whole story." Luis said.  
  
"Only fair, I guess."  
  
"Chloe looks like her aunts." Luis said. "She's spoiled rotten. I created a holy terror."  
  
"Oh how the mighty have fallen. I never thought I'd see the day when a little girl had the big bad cop wrapped around her little finger."  
  
"I was wrapped around your finger." He said frankly.  
  
She looked away, uncomfortable for a moment.  
  
She looked back a moment later. "I wasn't a little girl."  
  
"No." He agreed. "That wasn't the attraction there."  
  
"Right," Sheridan said quietly. "So, what are your plans?"  
  
He shrugged. "I don't know. It depends a lot on what my mother and Ethan decide. I can't raise Chloe without help. Judging from the trajectory of things, I think Ethan may've landed here for good." Luis shrugged. "And I know Mama would love to be around her grandchildren. But I have a good job, a mortgage, car payments, and history in Harmony. I love it there. Some days I understand why you and Theresa and Kay hated it, but some days I can't imagine leaving."  
  
"You and Chloe and Pilar are always welcome here Luis. I hope you know that. I think you're right about Ethan. I think he may stay for good. He has good reasons too. But if you want Harmony then you should stay there. I don't want you to move across the country because of a 'what if'."  
  
"I wasted years dreaming about you." He said softly. "I never imagined turning away a second chance. Or third or fourth in this case."  
  
Sheridan smiled a little. "I'm not saying we shouldn't try, I guess I'm just saying not to throw away everything you worked for."  
  
"I don't want either of us to throw away anything. That's the problem though, isn't it? So many possibilities out there... Even if we make no choice, that is a choice. And what's right and what's wrong?" He smiled bitterly. "I wish I know how to answer those questions."  
  
"Just don't do anything you'll regret. I'd love it if you were out here. I'd love to get to know you again, as a person with a child and for you to get to know me again," Sheridan admitted.  
  
He nodded. "I'd like to know you again." He agreed. "I guess that's why there are telephones."  
  
"And email," she nodded. "And besides, I think Chloe would like a vacation out here every once in a while. Anaheim isn't that far away."  
  
"You don't know Chloe yet." He said unsteadily. "Besides, I'm sure Thomas would love to see Boston and New York and Washington."  
  
"Neutral ground?" She asked.  
  
"Let's just say I don't want to concede the home court advantage completely."  
  
"We could take them up to Seattle to see the Space Needle. Hank brought pictures once and Thomas asked for weeks if we could go see it for real."  
  
"Chloe heard the word Emerald City about it once and begged to see it for weeks. I think she thought she'd get ruby slippers if she made the trip."  
  
Sheridan giggled. "She sounds sweet."  
  
"I'm telling you, she's a holy terror. She'll corrupt your well behaved angels in ten minutes." Luis paused. "That is, if Rosie hasn't already managed it."  
  
Sheridan laughed. "Boy, they got you fooled. They only look like angels."  
  
"Must be a trait in our genes," Luis smiled. "But I do look forward to getting to know my nephew."  
  
"I think he'll like that. He'll probably want stories about Antonio when you all were kids. I'm not much help there and Theresa and Poe are too young to remember."  
  
"Theresa probably remembers some. She just can't tell him what she remembers."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"She doesn't want to give him ideas. The two of us were awful to her." Luis admitted with a devilish grin. "Well, Antonio was anyway. He figured out how to melt things with a magnifying glass--" Luis stopped talking. "What are they doing?" He pointed at Paloma and Hank.  
  
"Uh," Sheridan looked at them carefully. "I believe that's called dancing."  
  
"He should not be touching her there. She should not be smiling. This is weird." Luis looked away and shook his head as if to clear the image. "This is very weird. This is the kid who I grew up with and the baby sister who used to follow us around."  
  
"Didn't Theresa ever follow you?"  
  
"She never adored me that much." Luis said. "Miguel and Kay were inseparable. They followed Noah or they followed Antonio. They ignored Hank and me. Poe and Jessie were the ones who acted like we were movie stars." He turned back to look, then closed his eyes. "Come on, didn't it freak you out a little the first time you saw Gwen and Ethan getting cuddly."  
  
"Honestly?"  
  
Luis nodded.  
  
"Yes. They had grown up acting like brother and sister and even they weren't so comfortable with it at first. It was like they just figured it was the next step." Sheridan eyed her younger-sister-in-law and friend. "These two don't have that problem."  
  
"You sound like you approve."  
  
"Maybe I do," Sheridan said. Then she nodded. "Yes I do. I think they're good for each other. I think he'll make her happy and protect her and she'll feel more secure then she ever did with her last husband. This could be a good thing Luis. Don't wreck it just 'cause you think you have to protect your baby sister from your best friend. And while I'm on the subject. A lot of guys could be dancing with Paloma right now. Guys you don't know. Guys who could only have one thing on their mind. Aren't you glad it's Hank and not those guys?"  
  
"I know Hank so well I do know what's on his mind. That's one of the things that scares me. But even I can tell her first husband was no good, and Hank told me he'd be careful with her. She looks happy. I just don't have to approve until after they're married and made their first son my godchild."  
  
"You might be waiting for a while. It took five years for them to dance. They pined secretly for so long we were starting to plan to put them together."  
  
"Yentas the lot of you," Cole said. "White wine and a beer. Enjoy."  
  
"Thanks Cole," Sheridan said.  
  
"Wait, why aren't you out there glaring at him? They promised me you acted like a big brother and guard dog rolled into one." Luis protested mildly.  
  
Cole's laughter sounded more like a rumble. "Hey, I see what you see. He's good for her. Never gonna put a bruise on her body or her heart."  
  
Sheridan just laughed at Luis' petulant expression. "And to think that this was how you used to sulk over Ethan and Theresa. Now they have two kids."  
  
"You do know how to make me feel better." Luis pretended to shudder. "Seriously, on one level, I know this is a good thing. But on another, that's my little sister and my best friend."  
  
"Just don't watch. And never ask questions if she wears a turtle neck."  
  
Luis turned red. "You had to make me think that way? Now I'm going to be suspicious instead of purposely ignorant."  
  
"My work here is done." Sheridan said with a satisfied smirk, as she sipped her wine.  
  
hr  
  
"Pretty good movie," Miguel commented. "I always did like the Muppets."  
  
"Muppet babies, you mean." Kay said, over the heads of four napping children.  
  
"Them too," Miguel nodded. "So, do you want something to drink?"  
  
Kay shook her head. "I don't think so."  
  
"Okay," Miguel nodded. "How about we go in the kitchen and talk? Really talk, I mean."  
  
She looked at Livvie, who was cuddled against her, then at Emma, then Ethan, finally at Thomas who was leaning against Miguel. Alex was on Miguel's other side. He was tucked into the corner of the sofa. "Think you can move without waking them up?"  
  
"I can try. You?"  
  
"I'm an old pro." Kay expertly maneuvered out from under Livvie and put a pillow in her place. "Your turn."  
  
"No fair, you only had one." Miguel twisted, then copied her maneuver and pulled the blanket from the back of the couch to take his place.  
  
"Not bad. You've done that before."  
  
"My niece and yours. I've babysat a lot."  
  
Kay had to smile as they went into the kitchen. "There's a bottle of wine above the sink."  
  
"Did you change your mind about a drink?"  
  
"No, I figured you wanted one."  
  
"I never drink alone." He said.  
  
"Iced tea?" She offered an alternative.  
  
"Sounds good," Miguel nodded.  
  
Kay made them both a glass and the got out the Buffalo Cake Sheridan had made. It was the one thing the blonde woman could make without burning.  
  
"There's no poison in this, right?" He asked, evaluating it with fork poised in the air.  
  
"Sheridan made it. It's her one culinary triumph. That and frozen pizza."  
  
"I'm impressed." He said. "There was a betting pool running for a while during the first engagement about whether she would make it to boiling water."  
  
Kay giggled. "She's gotten a lot better but Poe, Theresa, and I still do most of the cooking."  
  
Miguel blinked. "Your idea of a cooking implement used to be a phone to call for Dominoes."  
  
"I'll have to make my veal parm. You'll love it."  
  
Miguel took a careful bite of the cake.  
  
"See? It's good."  
  
"Yeah it is. I'm impressed."  
  
"Good. She got the recipe from a cook we used to have at the club. He used to work in this cafe that solely served dessert. He quit here after Poe told him his chocolate soufflé tasted like old gym socks."  
  
Miguel coughed. "And I used to think she was the tactful one of the family?"  
  
"Well, it sort of did taste bad, but she was on a real tear that day. She was furious about some letter, I think. I don't remember much, except being surprised. She's usually careful to keep good staff members."  
  
"Like Cole?"  
  
"Oh here it comes. You have a problem with him cause he did time right?"  
  
"No, no, I don't. If you all trust him, then so do I."  
  
"Okay then," Kay nodded. "You wanna stay don't you?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Then you better get Cole to like you, cause he's been a good friend to us."  
  
"Think he'll be able to learn to like a cop?"  
  
Kay looked thoughtful. "Well he likes me and Livvie, and we're both cop's daughters. A cop is just the next step up."  
  
"Or down, depending on how he thinks of it."  
  
Kay smiled. "Just be good to Livvie, be respectful to your sisters and Sheridan, and be nice to me. He'll love you."  
  
"Is that all it takes?" Miguel asked lightly, taking another bit of Sheridan's cake.  
  
"Yeah, that and don't flash any badges when you're around him. He's the bouncer. Let him handle the rowdies."  
  
"How many rowdies do you get?"  
  
"Not so many that we can't handle them easily."  
  
"I could help out at the clinic and Hank and I could do the Youth Center thing. Ethan might be able to help with the legalities once he passes the bar out here."  
  
"You're leaving out Luis."  
  
"Luis loves Harmony. He always has. He always will. He loves the people, the places, and the sites. He loves walking down any street and knowing every shop, every display, every customer and cashier. He loves the ocean and the beaches, and the park with the ducks. He even loves the tourists. Forcing him to leave it would be like tearing off his arm. He could recover, but he would always be bitter about it."  
  
"Well Sheridan won't be moving back there anytime soon. L.A. is better for her mental health."  
  
"So I guess they just part as friends?"  
  
"Looks like," Kay nodded. "Maybe one day they'll come to a compromise but for now they're staying put on their respective coasts."  
  
Miguel fiddled with his fork. "Have you ever wondered about the Cranes? They have a lot more resources than we did. They could've found you."  
  
"They did find us. Paloma handled it. Sheridan and Thomas gave up any inheritance and use of the Crane name in the future for a lump sum of five million."  
  
"No one ever mentioned it."  
  
"Sheridan doesn't really know. It was when she got sick and we had to get her into a hospital, but the club wasn't producing and the money for admission just wasn't there. We put the rest of the money in an account for her and Thomas and we're looking for a way to bring it up without pissing her off."  
  
"Good luck," Miguel shook his head. "I don't want to be anywhere near you guys when you tell her."  
  
"Me neither. That's why since it was Poe who did it, it's going to be Poe who tells her."  
  
"Sneaky of you."  
  
"Why thank you," Kay smiled. "Are you doing anything tonight?"  
  
He shrugged. "Are you?"  
  
"No. I was gonna just go to the club. Wanna come with?"  
  
"All the way downstairs?" Miguel grinned. "I think that would be fun."  
  
"Good." Kay smiled. "Miguel, I'd like to be friends with you. I want Livvie to be able to see that even though her folks might not be married they can still like each other."  
  
"And maybe someday--"  
  
"I don't plan on maybe some days, Miguel. You throw your life away when you start dreaming like that."  
  
"Then I'll do it for us," Miguel smiled. "Thank you. Thank you for being willing to try."  
  
"I never said I was willing to do anything." She said in a sulky tone.  
  
"Then thank you for asking to be friends again," Miguel smiled. "It means a lot."  
  
She sighs. "Hope springs eternal for you Lopez-Fitzgeralds, doesn't it?"  
  
"It runs in the family," Miguel agreed. 


	12. Chapter 11

Ch 11  
  
Rosie was wiggling around as her father tried to tie a ribbon in her hair. "Abuela Pilar and Grandma Grace and Chloe are really coming here?" She bounced.  
  
"Yep," Ethan nodded. "And tomorrow we're all gonna go to a wedding."  
  
Rosie grinned. "My dress is so pretty, Daddy."  
  
"I saw." He said.  
  
"There's lace everywhere." She reminded him.  
  
"You can't play in the mud with a dress like that." He tried vainly.  
  
"I wouldn't worry," Theresa said coming in with Ethan Martin and Emma. "It's an inside wedding. Rosie? Do you wanna play in the playroom with Emma and Ethan?"  
  
"Her hair isn't done." Ethan said. "Rosie, stay still for me?"  
  
"Here, let me," Theresa said. "I have a lot of experience with squirmy little girls."  
  
"I'm not squirmy," Rosie and Emma said together.  
  
"Of course not. I meant your aunts when they were little girls." Theresa gathered a handful of hair quickly, being careful not to pull.  
  
Emma and Ethan Martin sat with Ethan on the bed. The two children studied the father.  
  
He nonchalantly studied them in his peripheral vision.  
  
"You're very handsome," Emma announced.  
  
"You're beautiful." He told her.  
  
Emma giggled.  
  
Ethan looked at his son. "You look like me and your uncles."  
  
"I look like myself." Ethan Martin said. He wasn't quite belligerent, but he wasn't quite as charmed as Emma.  
  
"Yes you do," Ethan agreed. "So what do you two like to do for fun?"  
  
"Tea parties are best." Emma said. "But I like the park and the zoo."  
  
"Yeah? Maybe we can do that someday soon. Ethan? What about you? What do you like to do?"  
  
"Play with my cousins and my sister. And go to preschool. I like preschool."  
  
"Nice teacher?"  
  
"Painting once a week and play dough any time."  
  
"You like to paint?"  
  
"He's good at it," Theresa said. "There you are Miss Rosie."  
  
Rosie shook her head hard. The bows stayed in. "Thank you." She grabbed Emma's hand. "Let's go play."  
  
"Okay," she looked at her brother. "C'mon Ethan. We promise not to play anything girly."  
  
"When Alex and Thomas are ready, tell them to come play with us too." Suspicious, he followed the girls.  
  
"We will," Theresa promised. She looked at Ethan, "I think they'll be friends."  
  
"Yeah, there's something there."  
  
"You sound disturbed."  
  
"It's the idea of being outnumbered. For me, it's always been one to one. Now it's three to two."  
  
Theresa laughed. "So, I heard you were making inquiries into when the bar exam was."  
  
"Figured I could use a California license since I plan to live here."  
  
"So you're not just messing with me?"  
  
"I don't mess with people, Theresa. Life's too short."  
  
Theresa looked at him. Then she went with an instinct she'd long thought was gone.  
  
She kissed him. Hard.  
  
Surprised as he was, he responded almost instantaneously. When she leaned back, he grinned at her. "California has done wonders for your initiative."  
  
"I think it's the sunshine. It makes everyone more aggressive," she smiled.  
  
"You've got lipstick all over your face. We better fix that so we can get to the airport."  
  
"Can't we just let your dad and Luis go so Grace and Mama can yell at 'em for not telling them where they were going?"  
  
"You don't have to go, but Rosie and I are. Chloe doesn't deserve to be the only kid at ground zero."  
  
Theresa smothered a groan. "Okay, I'll go. I'll face the firing squad with you all."  
  
"Kids are great distracters. Pilar and Grace will be so busy being amazed that they won't have time to remember how angry they are."  
  
"I sincerely doubt that Ethan. I am just really glad Ivy's not coming. I never want Ethan or Emma near her."  
  
"She's my mother, Theresa. She's not a person you like. I respect that. But she does have the right to know that she has grandchildren."  
  
"She's poison, Ethan."  
  
"Let's not fight."  
  
"That's your problem, Ethan. You never want to fight anyone."  
  
"I don't want to fight you. I just don't know what my rights are with Ethan and Emma yet. Are they your kids, or are they really and truly going to be ours? Cause if they are ours, they will meet their grandmother before her funeral."  
  
Theresa's expression was rapidly changing.  
  
"There's another important person we haven't talked about in all this. What about Rosie? Theresa, I love you, always will, but I know you hated Gwen. Can you tolerate my daughter without turning this into a Cinderella/Stepmother contest."  
  
"What kind of question is that?" Theresa snapped, defenses coming back up.  
  
"I didn't mean it, but I do need to know that Rosie isn't going to be held accountable for everything Gwen did to you."  
  
"Ethan, I would never punish a child because of the way I felt about their parents. I'm not Julian."  
  
"I needed to hear it." He said simply. "Now, about my mother..."  
  
"You decided that Rebecca is only going to hurt Rosie. That's how I feel about Ivy."  
  
"My mom loves Rosie."  
  
"Because her mother is who she always wanted you with. You can't say the same thing for Ethan and Emma. She hated me from the day we were supposed to get married because she thought I was the one who told about you not being Julian's son."  
  
"She was wrong."  
  
"She'd still take it out on them."  
  
"It's not fair to give one child a relationship with a grandparent and to deny it to the other two."  
  
"It's different Ethan. Ivy makes it different. I'll treat them equally, but she can't. She's so locked in her own definitions and rules that if you don't do it her way, she refuses to acknowledge that it happened."  
  
"What about Pilar?"  
  
"She's considered you hers since the day you were born. She loves Rosie and I want her to love Ethan and Emma. Am I still mad that she chose you guys over Poe, Kay, Sheridan, and me? Yeah a little. But she's my mom. I know what it does to Sheridan not having Katherine around to see Thomas. I'd like to be able to have another shot at a relationship with her."  
  
"Why do you say that she chose us over you?" Ethan asked. "If she had, she would've agreed and given us the plane tickets. I think she just refused to choose. It's one of the character traits that no one will be able to change, I think."  
  
"You see things your way," Theresa said quietly. "You know, if you're going to move out here, you should probably start talking to Rosie about it. Not to mention a couple of women back in Harmony."  
  
Ethan sighed. "There are some things I have to know first."  
  
"We straightened out a lot here."  
  
"Yes. We did. But what about the rights I'll have with Ethan and Emma? What about family reunions? What about your last name? What about money and orthodontists and college funds and all the practical nonsense no one likes to think about?"  
  
Theresa tilted her head and got off the bed. She took out an envelope from her desk drawer and gave it to him before she sat down again. "Open it."  
  
Ethan complied and found Ethan and Emma's birth certificates. His name was listed as father for both of them.  
  
"They're yours Ethan. I had Ethan Martin's done about a month after I left Harmony. Emma's has always had you listed as their father."  
  
"How the hell did the private detectives miss this?"  
  
"Promise not to be mad at her?"  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Poe. I think it might have had something to do with the two grand she gave to anyone asking questions."  
  
"Where did she get that kind of money?"  
  
"She never said, and we never actually asked."  
  
"So they're mine."  
  
"As much as any human being can belong to another person, yes they are yours. I know you love them and they're willing to love you. Just don't push, okay?"  
  
He looked at her. "You better have warehouses full of pictures and videotapes of the early years. I want to know every detail."  
  
Theresa had to smile. "And to think I was ready to kill Sheridan for insisting we videotape every thing from birth to the present."  
  
He nodded. "There are no informal pictures of Crane children. Not a single spaghetti face or mud pie in the lost. Every three months they go to a studio and take formal pictures, which are filed in an album. That's not a childhood, that's an advertisement."  
  
"You want a spaghetti face? I have got at least one of every kid. 'Cept for Alex. He's too damn neat."  
  
Ethan laughed. "Hank will help with that."  
  
"Don't be too sure. My sister just might be able to reform the slob."  
  
"And you? What do you plan to do?"  
  
"Love you. Always," she smiled.  
  
"Oh? There's nothing about me that you want to fix?"  
  
"Yes. You're divorced, correct?"  
  
"Right."  
  
"Well, I'd like to make it so you were married."  
  
"That would fix the issue of your last name." He agreed. "Ethan and Theresa Soltini-Winthrop? McKay-Winthrop?"  
  
"How about Ethan and Theresa Winthrop-Bennett?"  
  
"I think that sounds just about perfect." He kissed her.  
  
"Yay," she said softly before she kissed him again.  
  
HR  
  
"I don't know how I managed to be talked into this," Kay muttered.  
  
"Because Olivia wanted to meet her grandmother and Grace is too well bred to make an ugly scene in public in front of a grandchild she just met."  
  
"I violently dislike you," she hissed at her sister.  
  
"I know." Theresa squeezed her hand.  
  
"Flight just landed," Ethan announced to his sister and fiancée. "You alright there, Kay?"  
  
"I should not have come." Kay said, looking like a trapped animal.  
  
"Too late to back out now," Theresa said taking her arm and linking it with Kay's.  
  
"Who elected us welcoming committee anyway?" She demanded, looking at the slightly separated Sam and Luis.  
  
"She's not going to kill you in a public place," Ethan told her.  
  
"Right, far too many witnesses," Theresa added.  
  
"That's not what I'm worried about. She's not the type to kill. She'll just guilt me to death."  
  
"I won't let her. Neither will Poe or Sheridan."  
  
"Oh, you three are in for a steaming dish of guilt yourselves."  
  
"So we give as good as we get."  
  
"Your mother practically raised Sheridan," Kay said.  
  
"Yeah. So?" Theresa asked.  
  
"So where is she? And where's your sister?"  
  
"You know that Mama and Poe's relationship isn't the greatest. It was never the same after she sent Poe away. It got worse when Mama wouldn't see us. And Sheridan isn't well equipped for huge scenes in public."  
  
"This is a mistake. Poe gets scary when she's mad. Remember the gym sock soufflé?"  
  
"Hank will help her get through it."  
  
"Did they really manage to get it together without our meddling?"  
  
"Sad but true," Ethan told his sister. "Now, listen, I wasn't there when you were a kid so I figure I've got some time to make up for. I will protect you from bullies. Even if the bully in question happens to be your mother."  
  
"My mother's not a bully. She's a guilt machine who can not comprehend the world outside her head."  
  
"She's a bully," Theresa said stubbornly. "She's just not an obvious bully."  
  
"What about your mother then?"  
  
"She can be a bully too, but I've got Poe to side with me. Let your brother help you with Grace."  
  
"Sheridan can just play either side I guess." Kay speculated.  
  
"She'll just sit there and watch for a while till one of them goes to far."  
  
"Or till one of us snaps." Kay voiced the grim thought.  
  
"Knock wood," Theresa said lightly rapping on her own skull. "Here they come."  
  
The kids had been bouncing around baggage claim, but Sam called them over. Theresa and Kay hung back to watch.  
  
Olivia was first and she scrambled over to hide behind Sam's legs.  
  
She was already a Grandpa's girl.  
  
Like mother, like daughter, Kay thought.  
  
Chloe had locked onto Luis. He had picked her up and she was peppering his face with little girl kisses. She was giggling and clinging and so happy to be with her Daddy that Theresa realized why Luis did not want to leave Harmony. Rosie had grabbed Emma's hand to drag her over to dance around Luis and Chloe and hug Nana Grace and Abuela Pilar.  
  
Ethan Martin stayed with his parents and hugged his mom's leg. When all was said and done he was really kinda shy.  
  
Finally, they couldn't avoid it anymore. Theresa, Kay, and Ethan Martin approached as a unit.  
  
"Mama?" Theresa said quietly.  
  
Pilar looked from her granddaughter and adopted granddaughter to her daughter and grandson. "Theresita, mija." Tears were in her eyes as she embraced her long-lost child.  
  
Theresa hugged her mother as Kay moved towards her daughter.  
  
"Livvie? Sweetie let go of Grandpa's leg and c'mere a minute."  
  
Sam took Olivia's hand. Grace was less than a foot away, but neither he nor his wife had said a word. "Olivia, this is your grandmother."  
  
"Mom, meet Olivia. She's your granddaughter."  
  
Grace knelt, putting herself on Olivia's level. "You are the most beautiful little girl I have seen since your mother." She opened her arms, and Olivia stepped into them. Kay bit her lip. Was this how things would be? Grace and Sam loving Livvie, but barely looking at their daughter.  
  
She felt hand on her shoulder and then another take her own hand. "I'm on your side little sister," Theresa whispered. "And if Miguel doesn't like it, tough."  
  
Grace stood, still holding Olivia on one hip. "Kay." She opened her other arm. "Oh my God, I missed you, baby."  
  
"Go," Ethan whispered into her other ear as Kay stood uncertain before she finally gave into what she wanted and embraced her mother.  
  
Theresa let Ethan hold her from behind. She covered his hands with her and rested her head back against his shoulder. "Will you marry me?"  
  
Ethan thought he'd imagined her words at first. Then she looked up at him. She nodded. "I mean it.'  
  
"I thought you meant it at the apartment. But if you need to hear the words again, yes, yes, yes a thousand times." He whispered in her ear, and she giggled a little as his breath and lips tickled.  
  
"I love you," she said softly. "I'll love you till the day I die."  
  
Ethan smiled. "Let's go home," he whispered. 


	13. Epilogue

Epilogue-  
  
The Isley Brothers' Twist and Shout played over the speakers muffling the laughter and chatter coming from the assembled guests.  
  
A cork popped loudly, the sound system fizzled, and the people inside the club clapped to herald the entrance of Mr. and Mrs. Ethan Winthrop-Bennett  
  
They stopped and Ethan grabbed his bride, bending her backwards and kissing her as catcalls were heard around Cloud Nine.  
  
The crowd couldn't help laughing at the disgusted. "Mom! Ew," which emanated from Ethan Martin.  
  
"Get used to it." Alex grumped at his cousin. "It doesn't get better."  
  
His mother laughed, and tangled her hand with her husband's. "I'm going to remind you that you said this in ten years or so."  
  
"How are you feeling?" Hank Bennett asked his wife.  
  
"Better. But I swear this kid better not give me a hard labor."  
  
"Did he?" Hank asked, pointing at Alex, who was following Ethan in search of the cake.  
  
"You'd think I was lying if I told you how hard." She grinned. "This time, I want drugs. It took them long enough, didn't it?" She nodded at Ethan and Theresa.  
  
"Not everyone's smart enough to elope." He told her. "And run away to an island paradise."  
  
She nodded. "There is something nice about big weddings though."  
  
"You're not changing your mind now? You said you absolutely didn't want a big family wedding." Hank worried. When she'd been young, Paloma had absolutely loved being the center of attention. As the Lopez-Fitzgerald baby, she'd been showered with attention often as not. She'd opted out of a family wedding, choosing instead a civil ceremony at City Hall. He hadn't complained-the spectacle of an event like this, with all the relatives from Harmony in LA hadn't been anything he'd looked forward to. But he sometimes worried that she had known that he didn't want a big wedding and had sacrificed her own dream.  
  
"Not for me. I'm discouraging giving the children ideas. I'm not going to be the one responsible for Kay and Sheridan and Theresa not seeing Livvie, Ethan, Emma, Rosie and Thomas down the aisle. I had my big wedding and bad marriage, now I had my little wedding and perfect husband."  
  
"Perfect? I love my uncle Poe, but he is anything but," Jessica Durkee said as she and Reese walked past, a little girl in her arms.  
  
Paloma beamed. "Come here, precious, let me tell you the truth about everyone here."  
  
Margaret Grace reached for her aunt and Jessica smiled. The little girl was fearless. Later, that might be a bad thing, but for now it was a good one. It meant she and Reese could dance.  
  
"Where are Noah and Whitney? Were they able to follow directions to get here?"  
  
"They called Luis a little while ago. They're about fifteen minutes from the club."  
  
"I told you letting them alone was a bad idea." Hank said rhetorically.  
  
"It's not my fault bad sense of direction runs in your family. Although why Noah was the one to get it, I don't know. I'm just glad he didn't become a pilot."  
  
"If Grace or Pilar heard that they would make the sign of the cross and kiss their thumbs three times."  
  
The assembled group laughed.  
  
"Jessie, c'mon let's go see Theresa. I think Luis and Sam have successfully dragged the groom away from the bride and she looks a little lonely.  
  
"Does that mean we have stand here and pretend to bond?"  
  
"Yes," Jessie smiled.  
  
"That means we get drinks." Hank expertly caught the eye of one of the waiters. "See you."  
  
"We're sisters now," Jessica said to Theresa, a grin on her face.  
  
Theresa smiled. "Kinda weird huh?"  
  
"No, I always wanted it." She grinned. "I had planned on you marrying Noah, though."  
  
"I thought the plan was for me to marry him, and you to marry Miguel?" Paloma teased.  
  
"Things worked out a thousand times better this way." Jessie said.  
  
"Right. I'm your aunt." They couldn't help but giggle. "Oh my God, I'm Theresa's sister and aunt."  
  
"Paging Ricki Lake," Kay said as she joined them. "Sparkling cider for the mom-to-be and you Jess, cause you're nursing right? Champagne for you and me, T."  
  
"To Theresa and Ethan. Lots of love and happiness," Paloma toasted.  
  
"And to Kay, for getting a job that she's going to excel at," Theresa said. She didn't mind sharing the spotlight with her little sister for the moment.  
  
"And to Jess, the star real estate agent and--"  
  
"Just say family, we'll save hours." Jess cut Kay off with a laugh. "Look at Ethan Martin and Rosie. Oh, and Ethan and Emma!"  
  
"I knew she would manage to bully him onto the dance floor." Theresa laughed.  
  
"Like Mother, like Daughter," Ethan said coming back up behind Theresa.  
  
"You know, our daughter gives me an idea," Theresa said. She signaled to the band and the melody changed.  
  
Well, here we are again I guess it must be fate We've tried it on our own But deep inside we've known We'd be back to set things straight  
  
Theresa waved at her guests.  
  
"Well, she's not sacrificing her happiness to spend time with the relatives who crossed the country to see the event, is she?" Jess asked, her tone mostly neutral, with a hint of sarcasm.  
  
Paloma laughed and cuddled Jessica's daughter. "Theresa does things her own way. She wanted family here, but she only has eyes for him."  
  
"Nothing new there."  
  
I still remember when Your kiss was so brand new Every memory repeats Every step I take retreats  
  
Every journey always brings me back to you  
  
Jessica watched for a moment. "Poe, you got her?"  
  
"Sure, we're fine."  
  
"Good cause T's got the right idea. Excuse me."  
  
"You go girl," Paloma smiled.  
  
After all the stops and starts We keep coming back to these two hearts Two angels who've been rescued from the fall And after all that we've been through It all comes down to me and you I guess it's meant to be Forever you and me After all  
  
Grace and Sam found their way to the floor. Noah and Whitney were drifting together. Paloma couldn't help sighing when Luis led a hesitant Sheridan to the floor.  
  
She saw her brother out of the corner of her eye.  
  
"Ask her to dance, Miguel," she said.  
  
Either he heard her, or sibling telepathy gave him a boot, because Miguel took Kay's hand confidently, as Olivia dragged Thomas towards the dance floor. He escaped, so she grabbed the closest person--Chad Harris.  
  
When love is truly right This time it's truly right It lives from year to year It changes as it grows And oh the way it grows But it never disappears  
  
"He's cute," Toni said. She was in one of Theresa's bridesmaid dresses. Theresa had chosen a pale, pale purple color.  
  
"He's also single."  
  
"Really?" Toni wrinkled her nose. "Think he'd date a paramedic with a nosy family?"  
  
"As a matter of fact I do. He's used to nosy families. Go on Toni. Give it a shot."  
  
After all the stops and starts We keep coming back to these two hearts Two angels who've been rescued from the fall And after all that we've been through It all comes down to me and you I guess it's meant to be Forever you and me After all  
  
Hank found his wife. "The side is no place for a beautiful girl."  
  
"I'm babysitting." She batted her eyes at him. "I should probably check on the--"  
  
"Dinner's coming along perfectly. Tables are set for whenever we seat people Servers are present, uniformed, accounted for, and ready. The cake is gorgeous, and no, the kids haven't found it. Cole is ready to vault over the bar to help out the guy you hired for the party, but I told him you'd be mad if he worked instead of dancing with his bride."  
  
Paloma gave him an adoring look. "You know me too well."  
  
"So will you relax, hand over the baby to Pilar and dance with me?"  
  
"Sure. Mama? Take care of Maggie for a bit. Hank wants to dance."  
  
Pilar beamed and took little Maggie from her youngest and shooed the couple away.  
  
"Are you sorry we didn't have a big party like this?" Paloma asked Hank.  
  
"You know me. I love a party."  
  
"Hank."  
  
Always just beyond my touch Though I needed you for more After all what else is living for Whoa  
  
"No, I am not sorry. I loved our wedding. It had just the right amount of people there and your sisters eventually started talking to us again."  
  
She laughed. "Don't you realize I engineered it so we'd get a little quiet as newlyweds?"  
  
"Uh-huh," Hank nodded his head. "For a while there, it was a contest between who was going to talk to us first and which one of your brothers was going to kick my ass."  
  
"I told Cole not to let them." She smiled. "Besides, wasn't it fun having the penthouse all to ourselves?"  
  
"Is that what you've decided to call it?" Hank teased, nuzzling her.  
  
"It is on the top floor. It's an apartment with studio windows."  
  
"It's a loft." He corrected her.  
  
"Poe-tay-toe, Poe-tah-toe" She shrugged dismissively.  
  
After all the stops and starts We keep coming back to these two hearts Two angels who've been rescued from the fall And after all that we've been through It all comes down to me and you I guess it's meant to be Forever you and me  
  
"C'mon, the song is almost over and I want to cut in on the bride and groom. Talk to my sister while I have a chat with your nephew."  
  
"Are you going to threaten him? Cause I already did."  
  
"No, I'm not going to threaten him. Promise." She managed to cut in on them. "Sorry Sis. I'm borrowing Ethan for a few moments. Hank, be a dear. Entertain my sister." She danced Ethan away.  
  
"Is this where you tell me that my body will never be found if I hurt her?"  
  
"You've already gotten the speech from my brothers and Hank and probably Sam. Probably at double the volume and intensity since we skipped the hoopla. No. No threats. Just a promise."  
  
"And that promise is?"  
  
"Guess."  
  
"That if I hurt her, you promise to make her throw me out."  
  
"She'll do that on her own. My promise is that you will make her happy, and you will stay with the kids, or you will deal with me." Paloma was of a size with her sister. She was short, thin and not particularly threatening. But Ethan believed her and believed she would do it too.  
  
"Your sister's happiness and the kids' happiness is always going to be the first thing on my mind."  
  
"Good." Paloma smiled.  
  
"You've met my sisters. You know why we're not close. I hope you and I can have the type of relationship that we didn't have."  
  
"I'd like that."  
  
"Me too," Ethan smiled.  
  
"Now, the song's almost over. Go finish it out with your wife."  
  
He took his sister-in-law's hand, and in a move straight out of etiquette class he kissed the back. She accepted it graciously. "You are a gentleman through and through, aren't you?"  
  
"I try."  
  
"I give credit where credit is due but if you ever repeat this, I'll hurt you. Ivy raised you right."  
  
Ethan accepted it, and he and his uncle traded partners once again.  
  
HR  
  
"OK, ladies and gentleman. It's that time! Single girls to the left, single guys to the right. Marrieds, stay where you are and laugh at them. The bride is going to toss her bouquet and the groom is going to throw the garter." Paloma managed to make herself heard over the commotion of chatting people.  
  
Sheridan and Kay made their way over while Theresa positioned herself up on stage.  
  
"Drum roll please?" Paloma said and then cut him off.  
  
Theresa threw the bouquet over her shoulder and it landed straight in the hands of.....  
  
"Oh my God," Kay said, looking at the flowers in her hands. "I demand a retoss!"  
  
Theresa smirked. Miguel, Antonio and Luis weren't the only Lopez- Fitzgeralds who could aim a pitch or a throw.  
  
"Okay and now, Ethan will be taking Theresa's garter off of her leg and throwing it out so guys, line up."  
  
"You have to behave yourself," Theresa whispered to her groom.  
  
"I'm not allowed to rubber band it and hit Miguel's forehead?"  
  
"Too obvious. You've been spending too much time with the kids. And that's not what I meant."  
  
"I'm not an exhibitionist. None of these single guys get to see your legs."  
  
Theresa laughed. "Aw and here I was planning on doing the can-can later," she teased.  
  
"Can we work out a private show later?"  
  
"Ahem," Paloma said. "We've got an audience guys."  
  
"Pushy, pushy." Theresa complained as Ethan slipped the garter off.  
  
"Watch your hands Winthrop," Luis said when Ethan's hands lingered just a bit too long on Theresa's calf.  
  
He met his wife's eyes with a long-suffering sigh. "This after two children?" He mumbled under his breath.  
  
"Ignore him and toss the garter," Theresa said.  
  
Ethan tried very hard not to aim at Miguel--but somehow, the little piece of elastic and lace pinged his brother-in-law in the forehead anyway.  
  
"Subtle." Paloma laughed at them, as Kay sent a murderous glance at her brother.  
  
"I think someone's trying to tell us something," Miguel said once he was standing next to Kay again.  
  
"That my brother and your sister can't mind their own business. A couple of yentas, I swear."  
  
"You're a yenta."  
  
"I don't work for the dark side."  
  
"I vote that we cut down on the boys' Star Wars viewing."  
  
Kay smiled and then looked at her flowers.  
  
"Hell of a catch."  
  
"I think I should have it bronzed. Maybe it means my luck will stay good. What are you gonna do with the garter?"  
  
"Wrap it around your bronzed bouquet, of course."  
  
"You know that means you'll be the next to get married," Kay smiled.  
  
"Yeah and so does the bouquet."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"So maybe we should marry each other," Miguel said quietly.  
  
"Oh for heavens sake."  
  
"This isn't a cheap proposal, I have a ring." He said hastily.  
  
Kay stopped. Stared. "Oh my God, you're serious."  
  
"I wouldn't joke about something like this," he said quietly. "Come with me," he took her hand and pulled her into the hallway where the offices were.  
  
"Miguel, what are you doing?"  
  
"Making a fool of myself, so you better say yes," he said, getting down on one knee.  
  
"This is a setup." She realized.  
  
"My sister and Ethan know nothing about this. No one does. Except for Billy Kelly," he named his redheaded partner.  
  
"Will you get up?" She asked, as a rumble of giggles and gossip ran through the crowd.  
  
"No. Katherine Marie Bennett Soltini-McKay, will you marry me?"  
  
"If you get up off the floor."  
  
"Promise?"  
  
"Yes, I promise."  
  
"Kiss me to prove it?"  
  
"You're going to be impossible."  
  
"Absolutely. So are you."  
  
Kay narrowed her eyes and bent down. She pressed her lips against his and kissed him.  
  
Her mother started the cheering.  
  
Sheridan, Theresa, and Paloma were at her side when she and Miguel pulled apart. They shared a group hug while Ethan, Hank, and Luis shook Miguel's hand.  
  
Sam hugged both of them at the same time, while Olivia hopped around demanding an explanation.  
  
"Livvie, how would you like to be a flower girl?" Theresa knelt down next to her niece.  
  
Livvie twirled. It was her turn now. Emma and Rosie hopped in delight. Another wedding! To their little girl minds, there was nothing better in the world.  
  
And the adults, well, they had the same feeling. The feeling that they had somehow earned a place on Cloud Nine. 


End file.
